“We have an important milestone to cross, which is to reduce mortality to the levels that the ECDC [European Center for Disease Prevention Control] advocates”, 20 deaths per million inhabitants, Graça Freiras told journalists.

Graça Freitas added that the country is in the first phase of reducing measures and caution is still needed, until it moves to the second stage.

“We will wait for the virus to reach the minimum possible to give us some freedom also with regard to the use of masks”, but the measures will always depend on the “dynamics of the virus”, she said.

Regarding the issues that parents have raised because of the learning processes, Graça Freitas said that there are also those who defend and say that the learning processes are not altered by the use of masks.

“Children are used to it and, therefore, we are calmly looking at the risks”, she said, noting that the Government will decide when it will slow down measures.