Since the beginning of the pandemic, Portugal has registered 5,192 deaths and 332,073 cases of infection with the new coronavirus, and today 72,181 cases are active, 1,755 more than on Tuesday.

Regarding hospital admissions, the DGS epidemiological bulletin reveals that 3,332 people are hospitalised, 69 more than the previous day, of which 504 in intensive care, five more.

Health authorities have 76,405 contacts under surveillance, 1,360 fewer than on Tuesday, the figures show, with 2,272 more patients recovered.

Since the beginning of the epidemic in Portugal in March, 254,700 people have recovered.

Of the 70 deaths registered in the last 24 hours, 30 occurred in the North region, 21 in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region, 13 in the Centre region and six in Alentejo.

According to the DGS bulletin, the North region has the highest number of new SARS-CoV-2 infections in the last 24 hours (2,076), totalling 174,612 cases and 2,505 deaths since March.

In the region of Lisbon and Vale do Tejo 1,157 new cases have been reported, with 108,053 cases of infection and 1,794 deaths so far.

In the Centro region there have been another 555 cases of Covid-19, a total of 34,127, and 683 deaths since March.

In Alentejo, 163 more cases have been reported, totalling 7,153 cases and 134 deaths since the epidemic began in Portugal.

The Algarve region has today reported 97 new cases, totalling 5,886 cases and 55 deaths.

In the Autonomous Region of the Azores 28 new cases have been registered in the last 24 hours, totalling 1,235 detected infections and 19 dead since the beginning of the pandemic.

Madeira has registered 21 new cases. Since March, the autonomous region accounts for 1,007 infections and two deaths.

The confirmed cases are spread over all age groups, with the highest number of infections being registered between 20 and 59 years old.

The new coronavirus has already infected at least 146,088 men and 179,781 women in Portugal, according to DGS data, 6,204 cases of unknown sex are under investigation as these data are provided automatically.

Of the total number of fatalities, 2,731 were men and 2,461 women.

The highest number of deaths continues to be concentrated in people over 80 years of age.

The country is in a state of emergency from 9 November to 23 December, during which time there is a curfew in the municipalities with the highest risk of contagion.

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused at least 1,557,814 deaths as a result of more than 68.2 million cases of infection worldwide, according to the latest assessment by the French agency AFP.