On New Year's Eve, from 31 December to 1 January, there will be a curfew from 11pm, an additional curfew will then come in from 1pm on 1, 2,and 3 January.

"Contrary to what we announced 15 days ago [...], we have had to cut the New Year celebrations entirely," said António Costa, at the end of the Council of Ministers meeting.

Thus, the ban on driving on public roads will take effect from 11pm on New Year's Eve and from 1pm on 1, 2 and 3 January.

The measures apply to all municipalities in mainland Portugal – regardless of the level of risk that is in place.

The ban on movement between municipalities between 00:00 on 31 December and 5am on 4 January, "except for health reasons, imperative urgency or other specifically foreseen", which had been announced 15 days ago, maintains remain unchanged.

On 5 December, when the state of emergency measures that will be in effect until 23 December were announced, the Government had advanced that on the night of New Year the curfew would be at 2am and only for municipalities considered to be at extreme risk and very high transmission of the new coronavirus, but this has now changed.

The Prime Minister admitted that, after Christmas, “there will be an increase in infections”, even though he stated he is confident that families will avoid risky behaviour.

Therefore, he added, "Christmas will be protected with the sacrifice of the New Year."

"Right after Christmas, we have to adopt measures of maximum restraint toprevent the increased risk that Christmas meetings will constitute from multiplying in exponentially,” he said.

António Costa also highlighted recommendations for Christmas including limiting thenumber of people who gather together, reducing the time spent at the table and meeting in well ventilated areas.

With the change in curfew times on 31 December and 1 January and on the weekend of 2 and 3 January, there will also be changes in relation to what had been announced for restaurant hours.

The new rules relating to 31 December will mean that restaurants will have to close at 10.30pm on this day and on 1, 2 and 3 January they will have to close by 1pm, “except for home deliveries”, as mentioned in the statement of the Council of Ministers.

At Christmas, the measures already planned and announced for about two weeks are to be maintained, that is, circulation between municipalities will be allowed and on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day it will be possible to circulate on public roads until 2 am.

To check the rules in your municipality, please visit: https://covid19estamoson.gov.pt/