Patients seeking urgent medical attention in Portugal face wait times exceeding nine hours at hospitals across the country.
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00:00Urgent patients visiting Portuguese hospitals are having to wait more than nine hours in
00:06some cities until they can be admitted.
00:10The government's National Health Service, the SNS, reported that many hospitals in the
00:14capital Lisbon are struggling with high demands and shortages in labor and resources.
00:21But the excessively long wait times are not just limited to Lisbon.
00:25In Coimbra and Portimao, nine-hour wait times for urgent patients were also reported.
00:33The increased demand on Portuguese health facilities is due to an increase in the circulation
00:38of the flu virus.
00:39The flu virus is increasing, that is, we are not yet at the peak, we are still in a growing
00:46phase, and having a vaccine coverage that is reduced below 85 years makes it easier
00:52to circulate.
00:53Portuguese authorities say the situation in hospitals is slightly improving.
01:23Local health units are making more resources available, driving wait periods down.