According to the epidemiological situation report of the DGS, the number of patients admitted to the ward fell to 828, 28 less than on Wednesday, a number that had not been recorded since 10 October (831).

In intensive care units (ICU) there are 187 patients admitted, 18 less than on Wednesday, the lowest since 21 October when 187 patients were admitted.

Compared to Wednesday, Portugal recorded six more deaths today, bringing the total to 16,743 deaths associated with Covid-19, resulting from 816,055 cases of infection recorded since the start of the pandemic in Portugal on 2 March, 2020.

In the last 24 hours, 580 people were reported as recovered, a higher number than new cases, bringing the total number recovered since the start of the pandemic to 764,599.

Active cases in Portugal continue to fall, standing at 34,713, 116 less than the previous day.

The health authorities have 15,268 contacts under surveillance, 85 more than the previous day, changing the downward trend that had been observed since 30 January.

According to the latest data from the Directorate-General for Health, Portugal currently has 1,235,136 people vaccinated against Covid-19: 863,570 with the first dose and 371,566 with the second dose.

Of the 21 deaths recorded in the last 24 hours, 15 occurred in Lisbon and Tagus Valley, one in the North region, two in the Centre region, one in the Alentejo region and two in the Algarve region.

In the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region, 235 new cases have been reported, totalling so far 309,198 cases and 7,070 deaths.

In the North region, 118 new infections by SARS-CoV-2 have been registered, with 329,057 cases of infection and 5,285 deaths since the pandemic began.

According to the data, the Centre region has reported 51 more cases, totalling 116,440 infections and 2,979 deaths.

In the Alentejo region 29 more cases were reported, totalling 28,828 infections and 966 deaths, while in the Algarve region eight more infections were reported, totalling 20,359 infections and 351 deaths.

In the Autonomous Region of Madeira, 34 new cases were registered, accounting for 8,252 infections and 64 deaths due to covid-19 since March 2020.

The Azores registered in the last 24 hours 10 more cases of infection, for a total of 3,922 cases since the beginning of the epidemic and 28 deaths.

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 confirmed cases are spread across all age groups, with the highest number of infections registered between the ages of 20 and 59.

The new coronavirus has already infected at least 369,466 men and 446,299 women in Portugal, according to data from the DGS.

Of the total number of deaths, 8,784 were men and 7,959 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, 11,047 were people aged over 80, 3,550 were aged between 70 and 79 and 1,484 were aged between 60 and 69.