"After the quarantine, I did a few days ago a test of the new ones that arrived, which is already of a new generation, the so-called serological tests", said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, in this interview conducted by the journalist Natália Carvalho, recorded at the Palace of Belém, in Lisbon.

Asked about the test result, he replied: "I can tell you that I am not immunized because I did not have any contact with any carrier of covid-19, which is ironic, because if there was any person who was in close contact with the Portuguese in the previous weeks, it was me. But I had no contact with anyone with covid-19".

The head of state said that he decided that, in the event of an infection, this time, he would be isolated in the Palace of Belém, because the quarantine experience at home "showed that it is inoperable", from the start, due to the conditions in terms of communications.

"It is, in fact, very limiting, as seen by my Skype communications abroad, it is dramatic", he observed.

The President of the Republic said that the Prime Minister, António Costa, has also informed him that if he has to isolate himself, he will stay in São Bento.

As for the country's situation, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa spoke out against "a decompression during the month of April", in which the state of emergency is in force until the 17th, but left it open if "in April the compression has to be all the same, yes or no".

"This is something that will be appreciated when this period of renewal of the state of emergency ends. We will see," he declared.

Regarding his relationship with the Prime Minister, the President of the Republic said that they spoke "practically every day and sometimes more than once a day" and that now "the pace has even multiplied", considering that the two have been getting along "very well".

Asked if he still describes António Costa as an "irritating optimist", Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa replied that "he still occasionally likes to remember that he is an optimist even in the most difficult situations".

"What I can say is that in this crisis we have gotten along very well, whether when we contact by phone or when we have meetings like that at an appreciable distance of two metres, two metres and a half. It has been a relationship that maintains a good optimistic tone even in the most difficult moments, "he added.

In his opinion, the evolution of the health crisis in Portugal "allows for a moderate positive expectation".

"I don't use the word optimistic because I think this is giving bad ideas to the Portuguese and the worst thing that could be was a relapse." As in everything in life, also in health, relapses are always worse than the initial diseases and, therefore, we have to avoid relapse", he defended.