Portugal’s tourism sector had suffered a 7.7-billion-euro decrease in turnover by September, which represents a 56-percent revenue drop and 236,000 jobs lost, according to Secretary of State for Tourism Rita Marques.

(Xinhua) — The Portuguese government said on Wednesday that it will invest 2.5 billion euros (3.05 billion U.S. dollars) in the country’s tourism sector rattled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The aim is to preserve jobs and the productive capacity of companies.

The amounts will be paid later this year. The planned investment is part of the 22-billion-euro fund the government will make available to reactivate the country’s entire economy after the crisis caused by the pandemic.

 People wearing face masks walk on the street in Lisbon, Portugal, on Sept. 15, 2020. (Photo by Pedro Fiuza/Xinhua)

Secretary of State for Tourism Rita Marques told Parliament that as of Dec. 15, “we had about 7,600 applications, whose terms of acceptance are already signed, with payments made of 43 million euros.”

Portugal’s tourism sector had suffered a 7.7-billion-euro decrease in turnover by September 2020, which represents a 56 percent revenue drop and 236,000 jobs lost, she said.

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, countries including France, Germany, China, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States are racing to find a vaccine.

According to the website of the World Health Organization, as of Dec. 8, there were 214 COVID-19 candidate vaccines being developed worldwide, and 52 of them were in clinical trials. (1 euro = 1.22 U.S. dollars)