“The numbers [of covid-19 cases] given by DGS do not correspond to those given in Madeira”, said Miguel Albuquerque, classifying the difference in the numbers of cases reported as “surreal”.

According to Miguel Albuquerque, Madeira, through the Secretary of Health, "has already suggested" to the Minister of Health that the "numbers of Madeira and the Azores - because it also happens with the Azores - no longer be given by the national DGS".

"It makes no sense because it takes away the credibility of the institution itself and the health organisations themselves”, said the official.

"I can't understand - maybe I'm not very smart - how they get to those numbers", he added.

The situation, he continued, "affects the image of Madeira", because it conveys the idea that "everything is upside down" in the region.

“And, later, it also affects the image of the DGS”, he reinforced, exemplifying that the region publishes “bulletins with 40 cases” and the national health authority puts 700.

"Therefore, it is either a maths problem or a lack of understanding on my part", he said, insisting that "no one can see how they [DGS] get to those numbers".

For the President of the Government of Madeira, "the best thing is not to put the numbers and it is resolved".

The Regional Directorate of Health of Madeira (DRS) has previously contradicted the numbers of cases of Covid-19 in the archipelago released by DGS.

In the statement released on 2 March, the regional health authority said that the figures released by DGS were not "in line with the daily count made in the Autonomous Region of Madeira".

In that day's report, DGS indicated that Madeira had registered 140 new cases and that the autonomous region had an accumulated total of 6,614 infections and 61 deaths due to Covid-19.

In its statement, the regional authority stressed that the "trusted" numbers are those reported daily by Regional Directorate of Health "in a clear, secure and transparent manner".