The DGS epidemiological bulletin also reveals that 3,819 patients are hospitalised, 318 less than on Wednesday, of which 688 in intensive care, 31 less.

In the last three days, 1,013 patients left the hospital, 96 of whom were in intensive care units.

The number of admissions today is the lowest since 11 January, when 3,983 cases were recorded.

The data released today also indicates that 4,401 people have been reported as recovered, bringing the total number of recovered people since the start of the pandemic in Portugal to 687,462.

For 18 consecutive days, the number of recovered has exceeded the number of new infections.

Active cases in Portugal continue to register a decrease. Today Portugal has 89,613 active cases, 2,562 less.

Since March 2020, Portugal has recorded 15,754 Covid-19-associated deaths and 792,829 cases of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection.

Health authorities have 107,553 contacts under surveillance, down 7,128 from the previous day, with the downward trend continuing since 30 January.

According to the latest data from the Directorate General for Health, Portugal currently has 556,331 people vaccinated: 347,013 with the first dose and 209,318 with the second dose.

Of the 105 deaths recorded in the last 24 hours, 56 occurred in Lisbon and Tagus Valley, 20 in the North region, another 17 in the Centre region, six in Alentejo and six in the Algarve region.

In the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region, 969 new infections have been reported, with a total of 299,013 cases and 6,521 deaths so far.

According to the bulletin, the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region has 49.8 percent of the total number of cases registered in the last 24 hours and 53.3 percent of the total number of deaths.

The Northern region now has 489 new infections by SARS-CoV-2, and since the pandemic began, it has recorded 323,482 cases of infection and 5,112 deaths.

In the Centre region, 287 more cases have been registered, accumulating 113,348 infections and 2,803 deaths.

In the Alentejo, 59 more cases have been reported, totalling 28,019 infections and 911 deaths since the start of the pandemic in Portugal.

The Algarve region has now 56 new cases, totalling 19,629 infections and 320 deaths.

Madeira has recorded 68 new cases. This autonomous region accounts for 5,642 infections and 59 deaths due to Covid-19.

The Autonomous Region of Azores registered 16 new cases in the last 24 hours and notified in total 3,696 infections and 28 deaths.

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

The new coronavirus has already infected at least 358,353 men and 434,201 women in Portugal, according to data from the DGS.

Of the total number of deaths, 8,221 were men and 7,533 women.

The highest 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 15,754 deaths, 10,471 were people aged over 80 years, 3,297 were aged between 70 and 79 years and 1,370 were aged between 60 and 69 years.

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused at least 2,430,693 deaths worldwide, resulting from more than 109.8 million cases of infection, according to an assessment by the French agency AFP.