According to the DGS epidemiological bulletin, 77 patients are admitted to intensive care today, six less than on Wednesday, the same number as on 24 September 2020.

With regard to hospitalisations in infirmary, official data indicate that 283 patients are hospitalised today, 14 less.

Since the beginning of the pandemic Portugal has counted 838,475 confirmed cases and 16,988 deaths.

The five deaths recorded in the last 24 hours occurred in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region (3) and in the North region (2).

Regarding the number of new cases, today's figures are similar to those recorded in recent weeks, with daily oscillations.

There are 22,535 active cases, 170 less than on Wednesday, and the number of contacts under surveillance by the health authorities has also decreased by 713, now totalling 22,010.

The data also reveals that 538 people have been reported recovered, bringing the total number since the start of the pandemic in Portugal in March 2020 to 798,952.

According to the latest DGS data, Portugal currently has 3,557,381 people vaccinated against Covid-19, of which 945,576 are already immunised with both doses.

The transmissibility index (Rt) of the SARS-Cov-2 coronavirus in Portugal is 0.95 and the incidence of infection cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days is 61.3.

Rt and incidence data are updated on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

In the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region, 106 new infections have been reported, with 316,888 cases and 7,200 deaths counted so far.

The Northern region now has 181 new SARS-CoV-2 infections, totalling 336,960 infections and 5,343 deaths since the pandemic began.

These two regions account for 76.9 percent of the total number of new infections nationwide.

In the Centre region, 32 more cases were registered, accumulating 118,903 infections and 3,016 deaths.

In the Alentejo 10 more cases were reported, totalling 29,823 infections and 971 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

In the Algarve region, today's bulletin reveals that 12 cases have been recorded, accumulating 21,742 infections and 359 deaths.

The Autonomous Region of Madeira has recorded 16 new cases, accounting for 9,315 infections and 68 deaths due to Covid-19 since March 2020.

The Azores now has 16 new cases and has counted 4,844 cases and 31 deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to the DGS.

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 380,531 men and 457,622 women in Portugal, DGS data show, according to which there are 322 cases of unknown gender, which are under investigation, as this information is not provided automatically.

Of the total number of fatal victims, 8,923 were men and 8,065 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 deaths, 11,175 were people aged over 80, 3,619 were aged between 70 and 79, and 1,522 were aged between 60 and 69.

The pandemic caused at least 3,244,598 deaths worldwide, resulting from more than 155.1 million cases of infection, according to a report by the French agency AFP.