Eight fewer people are hospitalised today, for a total of 734, but there are 10 more people in intensive care units, where 171 patients with Covid-19 are now.

Today's epidemiological bulletin shows that the number of new cases has not been this high since 10 February, when 4,387 infections were recorded.

Most infections (46.4 percent) were registered in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley area, followed by the North (31 percent).

Since the start of the pandemic, 916,559 people have been diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2.

The nine deaths in the last 24 hours were registered in the Lisbon (seven), and Centre (two) regions.

According to DGS data, 17,182 people have died so far in Portugal from covid-19: 9,023 men and 8,159 women.

According to the health authority, Portugal now has 47,108 active cases (1,909 more), having recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours 2,235 more people, which increases to 852,269 the number of recovered since the beginning of the pandemic.

The number of contacts under surveillance stands at 77,682, up 1,322 in the last 24 hours.

With 1,928 more contacts in the last 24 hours, the region of Lisbon and Tagus Valley now accounts for 358,162 cases of infection, closely followed by the North, where 1,305 new cases were recorded, in a total of 356,182 says the DGS.

In the Centre there were 316 new cases (125,267 in total), in the Alentejo there are 102 more cases (31,980 in total), in the Algarve 441 new infections (total 28,205), in Madeira 19 new cases (10,123) and in the Azores 42 more, for a total of 6,640.

Lisbon and Tagus Valley is the region with the most deaths (7,321), followed by the North (5,377), the Centre (3,034), the Alentejo (976), the Algarve (370), Madeira (70) and the Azores (34).

The regional authorities of the Azores and Madeira publish their data daily, which may not coincide with the information available in the DGS bulletin.

The incidence rate of SARS-CoV-2 infections per 100,000 inhabitants on the mainland rose today to 346.5, but the transmissibility index (Rt) fell again slightly to 1.15 on the mainland.

In the joint epidemiological bulletin of the Directorate-General of Health and the National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge, it is noted that the incidence rate on the mainland rose from 325.2 where it was last Monday.

At a national level, this indicator rose from 315.6 to 336.3.

As for the Rt - which estimates the number of secondary cases of infection resulting from a person with the virus - on the continent, on Monday it was at 1.16. At the national level, the Rt dropped from 1.16 to 1.14.

Data on Rt and incidence of new cases per 100,000 inhabitants at 14 days - indicators that make up the pandemic monitoring risk matrix - are updated by health authorities on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

In low population density counties, which represent more than half the mainland territory, the red line that forces municipalities to retreat in the deconfinement plan is fixed at 480 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants in the last 14 days and the remaining counties will be under alert when they exceed 240 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants in the same period.

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused at least 4,053,041 deaths worldwide, among more than 187.7 million cases of infection by the new coronavirus, according to the most recent balance of the agency France-Presse.

In Portugal, since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, 17,182 people have died and 916,559 cases of infection have been recorded, according to the Directorate-General of Health.