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According to the INE analysis of the “demographic context and territorial expression of the Covid-19 pandemic in Portugal”, mortality in the last six months was even higher in 3,757 cases compared to the same period in 2018. This increase, according to the statistics institute, is mainly due to the increase in the number of deaths of people aged 75 years and over., which represent 87 percent of the total positive variation in these six months compared to 2019.
The statistics from Statistics Portugal, which are still preliminary and include deaths from all causes, also highlight that in more than half of the Portuguese municipalities, the number of deaths in the last four weeks (between 3 and 30 August 2020) was higher than the homologous reference value, that is, the average for the same period in 2018 and 2019. Of this set of 164 municipalities, 41 stand out where the total number of deaths was 1.5 times higher. For the remaining 144 municipalities, the number of deaths registered in the last four weeks was equal to or less than that observed in the reference period, the document points out.
Covid-19-related deaths are only part of this increase in mortality. On August 30, Portugal had 1,819 deaths from Covid-19 since the first infection was recorded, which corresponds to just three percent of the total 58,124 deaths recorded in the last six months.
The General Directorate of Health attributed the increase to the heat waves that were registered, but there are experts who believe that these figures may reflect the limitations of access to the National Health Service.
“High territorial heterogeneity”
Regarding the specific pandemic, the INE read the evolution in Portugal, reaching the conclusion that “it continues to be characterized by high territorial heterogeneity.”
On April 2, it registered the highest number of new cases accumulated in seven days (5,618). As of that date, a progressive global downward trend is observed. Since the end of August a new upward trend has been observed, registering values higher than 2,500 new cases since that date, even reaching 3,075 cases (corresponding to 3.0 new cases per 10,000 inhabitants) last Wednesday -market.
On September 6, 2020, the date of the last data update at the municipality level, the country registered 2.4 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 (last seven days) per ten thousand inhabitants. The INE report highlights that in 53 municipalities, the number of new confirmed cases per ten thousand inhabitants was higher than this figure.
In the Metropolitan Area of Porto (AMP), a set of 13 municipalities and neighboring territories stands out: Arouca, Póvoa de Varzim, Vila do Conde, Santo Tirso, Paredes, Lousada, Felgueiras, Paços de Ferreira, Castelo de Paiva, Penafiel, Guimarães , Vila Nova de Famalicão and Vizela no Ave. With values higher than seven new cases per ten thousand inhabitants, the municipalities of Sernancelhe (Douro) and Vimioso (Terras de Trás-os-Montes) also stood out.
In the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (AML), out of a total of 18 municipalities, 11 municipalities had a value above the national level: Sintra and Amadora, with five or more confirmed cases per ten thousand inhabitants, followed by the municipalities of Vila Franca de Xira, Odivelas, Lisbon, Oeiras, Loures, Setúbal, Barreiro, Mafra and Seixal.
If we observe the new cases related to the last seven days per ten thousand inhabitants from April 12 to September 6, the progressive deceleration of new cases registered in the AMP stands out and, in the opposite direction, the growth of new cases of AML, registering this values above the national average since the week that ended on May 3.
In the set of seven days ending Sept. 6, AML accounted for 40 percent of the nation’s new cases.. However, as the INE points out, in recent weeks there has been an increase in the number of new cases in the MPA, with an approximation of the values of new confirmed cases per ten thousand inhabitants observed for the entire country.
In total, the new cases registered in the two metropolitan areas on September 6 accounted for more than half (56 percent) of the total new infections observed in the country. Currently, Portugal represents 62,813 cases of Covid-19 infection. Of these, 22,819 are from AMP and 32,170 from AML.
