Portugal ponders how to hold election amid omicron surge

Authorities in Portugal are wrestling with a conundrum: how to hold a general election scheduled for Jan. 30 amid a surge in COVID-19 cases that is confining hundreds of thousands of potential voters to their homes

LISBON, Portugal -- Authorities in Portugal are wrestling with a conundrum: how to hold a general election scheduled for Jan. 30 amid a surge in COVID-19 cases that is confining hundreds of thousands of potential voters to their homes.

Around 400,000 people are currently in isolation in the country of 10.3 million, and political leaders said Wednesday they are trying to figure out how to organize the ballot.

The surge shows no signs of slowing. The number of officially recorded new daily infections hit a new record Wednesday, reaching almost 40,000. The health ministry reported 14 deaths in the country, where 88% of the population is fully vaccinated.

Portugal has officially reported between 20,000-30,000 new infections a day recently. The highly infectious omicron variant and increased testing due to the requirement to show a negative test to enter restaurants and sports events, among other venues, are blamed for the record numbers.