LISBON, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa on Monday called for national unity to overcome the ongoing public health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which he described as the biggest challenge in the past 100 years.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, attending a debate program on the national television RTP via a video conference, said that the crisis caused by the pandemic of the new coronavirus "is the biggest challenge in the field of life and health in the last 100 years."
"We have had many social, economic and financial challenges, many crises, but this is the biggest challenge in the field of life and health in the last 100 years, in size and duration of time," said the president.
He said that national unity is needed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It is the convergence in the essential in the fight against the health crisis during the present outbreak," the president stressed.
The president declared a state of emergency, first of its kind in Portuguese history, on March 18 and extended last Thursday until April 17. However, he has indicated that the country may need four phases of state of emergency before bringing the pandemic under control and restoring the normalcy.
The Directorate-General for Health (DGS) announced on Monday that the COVID-19, a disease caused by the novel coronavirus, has killed 311 people and infected 11,730 in Portugal so far.
Prime Minister Antonio Costa has said that April will the most critical period for the pandemic, while health authorities expected that the peak of the COVID-19 might occur at the end of May.
However, the growth rate of the new confirmed cases in the past week is on the decline, indicating that the containment measures are effective, experts and health professionals said.
