Hospital admissions have also reached the highest figures since March in the last 24 hours, with a total of 1,365, 93 more people hospitalised than on Wednesday.

In intensive care, 200 patients are hospitalised, 13 more than on Wednesday. The maximum number of hospitalisations in intensive care units was registered on 7 April, the day 217 people were in these units with Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

According to the bulletin released today, Portugal has already counted 109,541 confirmed cases and 2,245 deaths since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The previous maximum number of new daily cases had occurred on 16 October, with 2,608 infections, while the previous highest number of hospital patients had been reached on 16 April, with 1,302.

Health authorities have 55,809 people under surveillance, 73 fewer than on Wednesday.

The DGS also reveals that 42,765 cases are active, 1,961 more than in the last 24 hours.

According to the epidemiological bulletin, of the 16 deaths recorded, seven occurred in the northern region, six in Lisbon and the Tagus Valley, two in the centre and one in the Alentejo.

In the last 24 hours 1,293 patients have recovered, totalling 64,531 since the beginning of the pandemic.

The North region continues to register the highest number of new infections daily, registering today 1,954 more cases, totalling 44,875, and 987 dead since the beginning of the pandemic.

In the region of Lisbon and Vale do Tejo, 936 new cases of infection have been reported, with the region accounting for 50,395 cases and 904 deaths.

In the Centro region there were 281 new cases, accounting for 9,024 infections and 285 deaths.

In Alentejo 56 new cases of infection were registered, totalling 2,219 with a total of 31 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

The Algarve region has today reported a further 28 cases of infection, totalling 2,335 cases and 23 deaths.

In the Autonomous Region of the Azores three more cases have been registered in the last 24 hours, totalling 323 detected infections and 15 dead since the beginning of the pandemic.

Madeira has registered 12 new cases in the last 24 hours, accounting for 361 infections, no deaths to date.

The confirmed cases are spread over all age groups, with the highest number of infections recorded between 20 and 59 years.

In total, the new coronavirus has already affected at least 49,825 men and 59,716 women in Portugal, according to the reported cases.

Of the total number of deaths, 1,138 were men and 1,107 women.

The highest number of deaths continues to be concentrated in people over 80 years of age.

The Covid-19 pandemic has already caused more than 1.1 million deaths and more than 41.3 million cases of infection worldwide, according to a review by the French agency AFP.

The disease is transmitted by a new coronavirus detected at the end of December 2019 in Wuhan, a city in central China.

After Europe succeeded China as the centre of the pandemic in February, the American continent now has the most confirmed cases and the most deaths.