Coronavirus: Consequences of the declaration of a state of alert on public procurement

On 12 March, the Portuguese Council of Ministers approved a set of extraordinary measures provided for in Decree-Law 10-A/2020 of 13 March. These measures were adopted in response to the current situation of the spread of the new COVID-19 virus in Portugal and to the virus being classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization on 11 March.

The state of alert was declared by the Minister of Internal Administration and the Minister of Health on 13 March. With this declaration and the set of measures adopted, we need to look at the possible impact of these circumstances on ongoing tender procedures and on the performance of existing public contracts.