The DGS epidemiological bulletin reveals that 3,142 people are hospitalised, 39 fewer than on Wednesday, 494 of them in intensive care, plus eight.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Portugal has registered 5,902 deaths and 362,616 cases of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and today 69,686 are active, 924 more than on Wednesday.

Health authorities have 76,451 contacts under surveillance, 2,161 more than on Wednesday.

The bulletin also reveals that 3,309 cases have been reported as recovered.

Since the beginning of the epidemic in Portugal in March, 287,028 people have recovered.

Regarding the 87 deaths registered in the last 24 hours the bulletin reveals that 40 occurred in the North region, 28 in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region, 15 in the Centre, three in Alentejo and one in the Autonomous Region of Madeira

According to the DGS bulletin, the Northern region recorded the highest number of new infections by SARS-CoV-2 in the last 24 hours (2,182), representing 46 per cent of the total.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Northern region has registered a total of 189,057 cases and 2,799 deaths.

In the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region 1,288 new infections have been reported, with 117,216 cases and 2,035 deaths so far.

In the Centro region there have been a further 731 cases, accumulating a total of 38,878 infections and 823 deaths.

In Alentejo, a further 169 cases have been reported, totalling 8,411 infections and 169 deaths since the epidemic began in Portugal.

The Algarve region has today reported 73 new cases, totalling 6,391 infections and 62 deaths.

Madeira has registered 35 new cases. Since March, the autonomous region accounts for 1,154 infections and seven deaths.

In the Autonomous Region of the Azores 32 new cases have been registered in the last 24 hours, adding up to 1,509 detected infections and 20 deaths.

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

The new coronavirus has already infected at least 162,966 men and 199,518 women in Portugal, according to DGS data, 132 cases of the unknown sex are under investigation as these data are not provided automatically.

Of the total number of fatalities, 3,076 were men and 2,826 women.

The highest number of deaths continues to be concentrated in people over 80 years of age, followed by people between 70 and 79 years of age.

The covid-19 pandemic has caused at least 1,636,687 deaths as a result of more than 73.4 million cases of infection worldwide, according to a report by the French agency AFP.