The number of new cases is also the highest since 11 February, when 3,480 cases were recorded.

The epidemiological bulletin of the DGS notes that 603 people are hospitalised today with Covid-19, 10 less than on Tuesday, 130 of which in intensive care units, three less.

The area of Lisbon and Tagus Valley has 52.2 percent of all new infections, concentrating 1,717 new cases.

The eight deaths in the last 24 hours occurred in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region (7) and in the Centre region (1).

Regarding age groups, five of the dead were over 80 years old, two between 70 and 79 and one between 50 and 59 years old.

The data released by the DGS also show that there are 1,770 more active cases, totalling 40,258 and that 1,507 people have been reported recovered in the last 24 hours, which increases the national total to 838,642 recovered.

Since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, 17,126 people have died in Portugal and 896,026 cases of infection have been recorded.

Health authorities have on surveillance in the last 24 hours an additional 3,033 people, bringing the total to 67,055.

The Lisbon and Tagus Valley region, with notification of 1,717 new infections, has so far recorded 348,708 cases and 7,285 deaths.

In the North region, 821 new infections by SARS-CoV-2 were registered today, totalling 349,837 cases of infection and 5,370 deaths since the pandemic began.

In the Centre region, 290 more cases have been registered, accumulating 123,513 infections and 3,028 deaths.

In the Alentejo 75 more cases were reported, totalling 31,434 infections and 973 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

In the Algarve region, today's bulletin reveals that 321 new cases were registered, accumulating 26,139 infections and 366 deaths.

The Autonomous Region of Madeira has registered 24 cases, adding 10,018 infections and 70 deaths due to Covid-19 since March 2020.

The Azores now has 37 new cases accounting for 6,377 cases and 34 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

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

The new coronavirus has already infected at least 409,057 men and 486,469 women in Portugal, DGS data show, according to which there are 500 cases of unknown gender, which are under investigation, as this information is not provided automatically.

Of the total number of fatalities, 8,991 were men and 8,135 women.

The highest number of deaths continues to be concentrated in the elderly over 80 years old, followed by the age group between 70 and 79 years old.

Of the total number of deaths, 11,240 were people aged over 80, 3,657 were aged between 70 and 79, and 1,542 were aged between 60 and 69.

As for infections the bulletin reveals that of the total 896,026 people infected since the start of the pandemic, 50,627 were aged between 0 and 9 years, 85,454 between 10 and 19 years, 132,294 between 20 and 29 years, 130. 543 between 30 and 39 years, 148,821 between 40 and 49 years, 130,551 between 50 and 59 years, 89,209 between 60 and 69 years, 57,446 between 70 and 79 years and 70,581 over 80 years.

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused at least 3,996,519 deaths worldwide, resulting from more than 184.4 million cases of infection by the new coronavirus, according to the most recent report by Agence France-Presse.