São Miguel's industry and trade to reopen on Friday and regional administration on Monday
The commercial, industrial and service establishments on the island of São Miguel will reopen on Friday, May 22, according to the scheduled lifting of restrictions defined by the Regional Government. In turn, the Regional Administration service will resume the provision of face-to-face services on Monday, May 25.
reopening of these public and private services, which considers the fact that the two active transmission chains on São Miguel Island remain contained, requires the adoption of a series of hygiene and contagion prevention measures defined by the Regional Health Authority.
In this regard, commercial, industrial and service establishments are authorised to reopen from 22 May, provided that compliance with the conditions relating to maximum capacity is guaranteed, spaces are cleaned in advance according to the procedures deemed appropriate, masks are worn in the provision of face-to-face services and hand sanitiser is made available.
On May 25, the regional administration services, including public institutes and public companies, will reopen on the island of São Miguel. However, teleworking will be maintained in all cases where this is possible, especially in the cases of workers over 60, people with chronic conditions, pregnant women or those who need to support their children up to 14 years or, beyond this age, in special situations.
In all public services, the use of masks by civil servants and the availability of hand sanitiser is mandatory as well as respect for physical distancing rules.
Also, from Monday, May 25, the hours between 9 am and 11 am in regional administration services will be exclusively dedicated to people included in vulnerable and risk groups, namely people over 60, pregnant women, people with chronic conditions and those with special needs.
On this day, face-to-face classes will also be resumed on the island of São Miguel for 11th and 12th students taking national exams. In this case, schools will be required to clean classrooms and common spaces in advance, enforce the use of masks and make hand sanitiser available for the entire educational community.
In addition, museums, public libraries, public gardens, nature reserves, natural monuments, environmental and interpretation centres and public visiting spaces will also reopen on Monday, May 25, the day when bathing areas are allowed to open, provided that compliance with physical distancing requirements is ensured.