The number of deaths has been falling in recent weeks, with a minimum registration of six deaths on Sunday, a number that has not been reached since October 2.

The DGS epidemiological bulletin reveals that 695 patients are hospitalised (17 fewer than on Wednesday), the lowest number since October 4, the day that 682 people were hospitalised.

In intensive care, Portugal today has 154 patients (minus one compared to Wednesday), the lowest figure since 17 October, the day when Portugal also had 148 cases in these units.

The data indicate that 610 people were reported to have recovered, bringing the total number of recovered to 770,448 since the beginning of the pandemic in Portugal, in March 2020.

Active cases in Portugal continue to record a decrease, with 31,948 recorded today, minus 196, with the number of new confirmed cases, now 423, stable since mid-March.

Since March 2020, Portugal has registered 16,814 deaths associated with covid-19 and 819,210 cases of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

The health authorities have 15,035 contacts under surveillance, 137 more than in the previous day, thus changing the downward trend that had occurred since 30 January.

According to the latest data from the Directorate-General for Health, Portugal currently has 1,434,044 people vaccinated against covid-19: 973,181 with the first dose and 460,863 with the second dose.

The transmissibility index (Rt) of the new coronavirus in Portugal was on Wednesday 0.91 and the incidence of 77.6 new cases of infection with SARS-CoV-2 per 100,000 inhabitants, according to official data.

Rt and incidence data are updated on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Of the nine deaths recorded in the last 24 hours, seven occurred in Lisbon and Vale do Tejo, one in the Centre region and one in the Autonomous region of Madeira.

In the region of Lisbon and the Tagus Valley, 182 new infections were reported, accounting for 310,443 cases and 7,111 deaths so far.

The North region has 126 new SARS-CoV-2 infections and since the beginning of the pandemic it has already counted 329,923 cases of infection and 5,295 deaths.

In the Centre region, 59 more cases were recorded, with a total of 116,873 infections and 2,995 deaths.

In the Alentejo, 17 more cases were reported, totalling 28,953 infections and 967 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic in Portugal.

The Algarve region has reported 22 new cases, totalling 20,572 infections and 351 deaths.

In the Autonomous Region of Madeira, 8 new cases were registered, accounting for 8,443 infections and 67 deaths due to covid-19 since March 2020.

Today, the Azores have nine new cases, accounting for 4,003 cases since the beginning of the pandemic and 28 deaths.

The regional authorities of the Azores and Madeira disclose their data on a daily basis, which may not coincide with the information disclosed in the DGS bulletin.

Confirmed cases are distributed across all age groups, with the highest number of infections between 20 and 59 years of age.

Of the total fatalities, 8,827 were men and 7,987 women.

The largest 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 deaths, 11,086 were people over 80 years old, 3,566 aged between 70 and 79 years old and 1,496 were between 60 and 69 years old.