Portugal records more than 40,000 cases of coronavirus for the third consecutive day

Portugal on Friday recorded more than 40,000 cases of COVID-19 for the third consecutive day, numbers that we have not seen before throughout the pandemic, as well as 34 deaths.

The latest bulletin from Portugal’s Directorate General of Health (DGS) reports 40,090 positive diagnoses, slightly below the record reached last Wednesday of 40,945 infections.

Today, 34 deaths were also recorded, the highest number since March last year, although it is far from the peak recorded during the strong wave that swept the country just one year ago, which reached 300 deaths per day.

The Portuguese Minister of Health, Marta Temedo, today summoned the ambulance lines that were present a year ago at the gates of hospitals and highlighted that for the time being with vaccination and a less aggressive ômicron, the situation is different.

“A year ago we were exposed to a very strong wave, we all remember very well the ambulances, the pressure on the oxygen networks, the lack of available beds (…) today we do not have that, and the intensive care levels of use are completely sustainable,” he told Portuguese television channel TVI.

There are currently 1,699 patients in hospital Corona Virus In Portuguese hospitals, 162 of them are in intensive care units (ICUs), the numbers are unchanged from the day before.

The 14-day infection rate increased again and reached 3813.6 cases per 100,000 population, although the transmission rate (Rt) has decreased and is now 1.19.

Portugal, with a population of 10.3 million, has recorded 1,814,567 cases and 19,237 deaths from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.

Today, the National Statistics Institute revealed that nearly 10% of deaths in Portugal in 2021 were due to COVID-19.