According to the bulletin released today by the DGS, 447 patients are hospitalised in the ward, 12 less than on Tuesday, and 116 in intensive care, two less.

The data also reveals that 660 people have been reported recovered, bringing the total number since the start of the pandemic in Portugal in March 2020 to 786,469.

There are 25,457 active cases in Portugal, up 16 from Tuesday.

Since March 2020, Portugal has recorded 16,931 deaths associated with Covid-19 and 828,857 cases of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

The number of contacts under surveillance by health authorities increased by 391 compared to Tuesday, now totalling 18,404.

According to the latest data from the DGS, Portugal currently has 2,201,032 people vaccinated against Covid-19, of which 605,533 are already immunised with the two doses.

The transmissibility index (Rt) of the new coronavirus in Portugal rose today to 1.06 and the incidence of cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days reached 72.4, according to official data.

The previous figures for these indicators, released on Monday, pointed to a national Rt of 1.04 and an incidence of 70 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

Rt and incidence data are updated on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Of the eight deaths reported by health authorities, five were registered in Lisbon and Tagus Valley and three in the Northern region.

In the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region 188 new infections have been reported, counting 314,000 cases and 7,179 deaths so far.

The Northern region has 265 new infections by SARS-CoV-2, and since the start of the pandemic, 332,900 cases of infection and 5,326 deaths have been recorded.

In the Centre region, 66 more cases have been registered, accumulating 117,922 infections and 3,004 deaths.

In the Alentejo 43 more cases were reported, totalling 29,465 infections and 970 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

In the Algarve region, today's bulletin reveals that 66 new cases were registered, accumulating 21,246 infections and 355 deaths.

In the Autonomous Region of Madeira, 33 new cases have been registered, accounting for 8,904 infections and 68 deaths due to Covid-19 since March 2020.

The Azores now have 23 new cases and count 4,420 cases and 29 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 375,789 men and 452,773 women in Portugal, DGS data show, according to which there are 295 cases of unknown gender, which are under investigation, as this information is not provided automatically.

Of the total number of fatalities, 8,896 were men and 8,035 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, 11,149 were people aged over 80, 3,598 were aged between 70 and 79, and 1,513 were aged between 60 and 69.

The pandemic caused at least 2,961,387 deaths worldwide, resulting from more than 137.4 million cases of infection, according to a report by the French agency AFP.