Confused about how to find info on catching Covid in Portugal

Quarantine Information 
 Are U.S. citizens required to quarantine? No
Effective October 1, the State of Alert in Portugal is longer in effect. Quarantine/isolation is no longer mandatory.

Are you going to Madiera or the Azores which are islands off Portugal? They still seem to have some Covid restrictions...understandable due to their limited resources.
As to being allowed to fly back, you need to check your airline website about that.
And, of course, all this can change by the time you travel.

It really is down to your judgement. Likely, the advice would be to limit your activities for 5 days or so, to avoid spread, but no one is going to force you, or check on you, even if you went to a Pharmacy and had a positive test.

Flying home? The airlines all suggest not flying, but they are not requiring tests, or governments doing screening on entry. Now should you fly? I would hope that if you had active symptoms, you would hold off (as a potential co-traveler) but I have a feeling many would fly.

I’m with Paul when it comes to not flying with Covid. That person sitting near you just might have a health issue that Covid would only complicate. Buy travel insurance to cover you if you are unfortunate and catch it.

The website for the public health system is SNS24.gov.pt
This is the main portal from which those of us living in Portugal obtained our information during the pandemic. I just took a quick look and they have removed almost everything about Covid from the site. I also know that Portugal has closed the public vaccination sites (the only place we could obtain vaccines).

While I’ve had a few friends get Covid in the last few months, it’s very much a non issue at this point. Anyone who gets Covid uses their own judgment as to when to quarantine, for how long, etc. Just last week, the mandate for masks at health facilities was removed, which was the last one to go.

I keep one test at my home in case I get sick and they can be obtained from Farmacia’s for around €2. I’d say not to worry at this point. Obviously, if you get sick you want to take precautions to not spread to others. But, other than that, you won’t be required to have a test, quarantine, etc.

The best news is that the warm weather ensures being outside most of the time to decrease the spread.

@kathrynj - Thank you. This is helpful. Are PCR tests still available at Farmacias? Also, do physicians prescribe Plaxovid anti-virals for cases?

The PCR tests were never available in Farmacia’s - just the rapid ones.
I don’t know of anyone who received the medication you mention but I also don’t know anyone that was very sick in the last two plus years. So, guess the short answer is I don’t know.

I was just in Portugal's mainland and also Madeira and Azores. We did not have to show COVID-19 vaccination status cards anywhere (including flights) nor provide any proof of negative testing at any time during our travels. We flew internationally and domestically in Portugal during this trip. It was like the "old days," so to speak.

Just an FYI. My Dad is 94 years old and is in a long term care facility here in British Columbua. Last year, he came down with covid and only had to isolate in his room for 5 days. I would still have been allowed to visit him if I wore all the personal protection, but I opted to do window visits; his room is on the first floor so I could see and speak to him through the window. After the 5 days, he was released from his room isolation and was allowed to mingle with the other elderly residents in the common areas. He was still symptomatic, coughing with a very sore throat. I asked the staff to see if he was still positive and they told me that according to the current health policy they did not even test him before letting him back in the common areas. I brought an antigen test from home and tested him myself and found that he was still positive! I discussed this with the health staff. They told me that according to the new policy, the current research showed that the vaccinations are working and that after 5 days, even though a person may still have symptoms and test positive, their viral load is so low that it is unlikely that they could infect another person. So, if the elderly person is not on a ventilator or very sick, it is better for their wellbeing to be socializing than be isolated for extended periods of time. Take this FWIW, and use you own best judgment to take care of yourself and not to infect others.