The number of new daily cases had not been this high since 19 February, when 1,940 infections were recorded.

The epidemiological bulletin of the Directorate General of Health (DGS) records that 492 people are hospitalised today with Covid-19, 10 less than on Monday, 119 of which in intensive care units, where four more people were admitted in the last 24 hours.

The area of Lisbon and Tagus Valley has 55 percent of all new infections, concentrating 965 new cases.

Five deaths attributed to Covid-19 in the last 24 hours occurred in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region and one in the North.

The data released by the DGS also show that there are 63 more active cases, totalling 32,134 and that 1,677 people have been reported recovered in the last 24 hours, which increases the national total to 827,969 recovered.

Since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, 17,092 people have died in Portugal and 877,195 cases of infection have been recorded.

The number of contacts under surveillance by health authorities has risen by 1,058 to a total of 51,109.

The incidence of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in mainland Portugal is 161.7 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, and 158.5 throughout the country, according to official data.

On Friday, the incidence of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in mainland Portugal was 138.7 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, while the figure for the whole country was 137.5.

According to the joint epidemiological bulletin of the General Directorate of Health (DGS) and the National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA), the transmissibility index (Rt) recorded on Monday a decrease from 1.14 to 1.13 throughout the country and from 1.15 to 1.14 in mainland Portugal.

The transmissibility index and 14-day incidence data are updated on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

In the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region, 338,702 cases and 7,260 deaths attributed to Covid-19 have been counted so far.

The North region now has 361 new SARS-CoV-2 infections, totalling 345,390 cases of infection and 5,365 deaths since the pandemic began.

In the Centre region, 152 more cases have been registered, accumulating 121,883 infections and 3,027 deaths.

In the Alentejo 30 more cases were reported, totalling 30,933 infections and 972 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

In the Algarve region, today's bulletin reveals that 180 cases have been registered, accumulating 24,235 infections and 365 deaths.

The Autonomous Region of Madeira has registered 11 cases, adding 9,908 infections and 69 deaths due to Covid-19 since March 2020.

The Azores now has 47 new cases, accounting for 6,144 cases and 34 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

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 new coronavirus has already infected at least 477,082 women and 399,662 men in Portugal and, DGS data shows, there are 451 cases of unknown gender, which are under investigation as this information is not provided automatically.

Of the total number of fatalities, 8,971 were men and 8,121 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, 11,218 were people aged over 80, 3,648 were aged between 70 and 79, and 1,540 were aged between 60 and 69.

The pandemic caused at least 3,925,816 deaths worldwide, resulting from more than 181 million cases of infection, according to a report by the French agency AFP.