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It is a phrase that we have read several times in recent weeks. This Thursday, Portugal had the worst day in its history in terms of new cases of covid-19 and exceeded, for the first time, the threshold of 3,000 daily cases, 3,270, specifically, according to data from this Thursday. the General Directorate of Health (DGS). With this figure, Portugal now has 109,541 confirmed cases since March.
Almost all of the highest values of daily cases were registered this month, which, still unfinished, already has more infections than, for example, the month of April. On October 14, Portugal exceeded 2,000 cases a day, but Marta Temido already warned, at a press conference, that the number 3,000 could reach the following week, which in fact happened.
Most of the new cases (1954 or 59.7%) were registered in the north. This increase in cases in the North region has already led the Government to take measures, approving a resolution that imposes the duty to stay at home in three municipalities of the country where the pandemic is growing the most: Felgueiras, Lousada and Paços de Ferreira. The measure takes effect at midnight on Thursday.
In the last 24 hours, 16 people died from Covid-19, bringing the total number of deaths to 2,245.
Thursday’s bulletin reports an increase in the number of active cases, an indicator that has been on the rise since mid-August and that had its first decline this Tuesday, with 71 fewer active cases. However, the next day, this indicator rose again and this Thursday reached the highest value in history, so there are 1,961 more active cases, in a total of 42,765.
Regarding the number of hospitalized cases, the increase is also significant and makes Portugal exceed the April peak. On the 6th of that month there were 1302 hospitalized patients, 229 in intensive care. And now there are 1,365 hospitalized patients (93 as of Wednesday). Of these, 200 (plus 13) are admitted to intensive care units. On the other hand, the number of cases recovered is also significant: there are 1,293 more cases recovered since this Wednesday, for a total of 64,531. At least 55,809 people continue to be followed by the health authorities, 73 less from the previous day.
North with most cases
Looking at the distribution of cases by region, Lisbon and Tagus Valley It is still the country with the highest cumulative number of cases in the country – in total, there are 50,395 infection records – 936 in the last 24 hours – and 898 deaths from covid-19 (six since Wednesday).
THE North It has 44,875 cases and 987 deaths, it is the region with the highest number of deaths, seven of which occurred in the last 24 hours. the Center It has 9024 infections (281 in the last 24 hours) and 285 deaths (two since Wednesday). THE Alentejo total 2,219 cases (56 new) and 31 deaths (one in the last 24 hours). In the Algarve there are 2335 cases of infection (28 in the last 24 hours) and 23 deaths. THE Madeira total 361 cases of infection (12 new) and zero deaths. the Azores registered 332 cases (plus three) and 15 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
The data from the DGS report indicate that, of the total registered deaths, 1007 are women and 1138 men. The 16 deaths registered in the last 24 hours refer to 9 citizens over 80 years old, three people between 70 and 79 years old and four people between 60 and 69 years old. The disease caused by the new coronavirus is more deadly in the age group over 70 years: Covid-9 killed 1,947 people of this age, which represents 86.7% of all deaths registered in all age groups. age.
Three times more tests and three times fewer deaths
The simple answer is yes, but the reason for taking exams at this time “is completely different from then,” as Jorge Torgal, a specialist in public health, explained this Thursday in an interview with PÚBLICO and Renascença. “The epidemic was reaching Portugal and it was spreading. The reason for the test today is completely different than it was then. Today, screening tests are performed in populations that do not have symptoms, or because they had contacts, “says the specialist.
Let’s look at the numbers collected by site Our World in Data, under the tutelage of the University of Oxford. Portugal has so far carried out some 3,093,526 tests on covid-19, more than 303 thousand per million inhabitants. In April, the worst month of the first pandemic peak in Portugal, Portugal carried out a total of 128 thousand tests, an average of 4270 tests per day. The day most of the samples were analyzed was April 30, with a total of 16,373 tests performed. In that month, the country had an average of 498 cases per day, for a total of 14,944 confirmed cases.
Although this month is not over yet, October has already exceeded April in the number of total cases, with 15,763 confirmed infections since day 1, an average of 750 cases per day, a figure that does not include the numbers for this Thursday. It was also in October that the day with the most samples analyzed since the start of the pandemic was recorded., on October 14, with 30,838 tests performed in one day. In total, and until the 18th of this month (latest data available), more than 474 thousand tests have already been carried out, an average of 26.3 thousand per day.
The positivity rate (number of people who test positive, out of all tests) has decreased. On April 10, 10,121 tests were performed and there were 1,516 positives, a positivity rate of 15%. On October 18, 14,950 tests were carried out, of which 2,072 were positive, giving a rate of 6.9%.
But if the number of cases is important to assess the evolution of the pandemic, there is another that is also important. Although there are many more people infected, Covid-19 is killing fewer Portuguese than in April, when it killed 809 people, an average of 26.9 Portuguese per day. The day with the most confirmed deaths was April 3, when 37 deaths were counted. So far in October, the average is 12 deaths per day, for a total of 258 deaths. The highest figure was on October 16, with 21 dead.
At the beginning of October, Marta Temido revealed that Portugal carried out almost 20 thousand tests for covid-19 a day. “We went from an average of 2,500 tests per day in March to 19,600 tests per day in October,” said the Minister of Health.
According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Portugal has 243.3 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, a figure that refers to the last 14 days. Just two months ago, for example, the incidence of the disease in the country was below 30 cases per 100,000 inhabitants; on August 21, this figure was 27.8 cases.
