According to the DGS bulletin, less than 300 patients (296) are currently hospitalised in infirmary wards, which has not been the case since 26 March last year, the month when the pandemic started in Portugal, when 191 patients were hospitalised.

Today there are 26 fewer patients on the ward than on Monday and 87 in intensive care units (three fewer).

The four deaths recorded in the last 24 hours occurred in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region (3) and in the North region (1).

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

Since the start of the pandemic Portugal has counted 837,715 confirmed cases and 16,981 deaths.

There are 22,833 active cases, 523 fewer than on Monday, and the number of contacts under surveillance by health authorities has also decreased by 443, now totalling 23,556.

The data also reveals that 777 people have been reported recovered, bringing the total number since the start of the pandemic in Portugal in March 2020 to 797,901.

According to the latest DGS data, Portugal currently has 3,389,345 people vaccinated against Covid-19, of which 886,295 are already immunised with both doses.

The transmissibility index (Rt) of the SARS-Cov-2 coronavirus in Portugal is 0.96 and the incidence of infection cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days is 64.4.

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

In the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region, 65 new infections have been reported, accounting so far for 316,694 cases and 7,196 deaths.

The North region now has 128 new infections by SARS-CoV-2 which represents 49.6 percent of the total number of new infections registered in the country in the last 24 hours. Since the start of the pandemic, the North has recorded 336,608 cases of infection and 5,341 deaths.

In the Centre region, 24 more cases have been registered, accumulating 118,812 infections and 3,015 deaths.

In the Alentejo six more cases were reported, totalling 29,801 infections and 971 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

In the Algarve region, today's bulletin reveals that nine cases have been recorded, accumulating 21,716 infections and 359 deaths.

The Autonomous Region of Madeira has recorded nine cases, accounting for 9,276 infections and 68 deaths due to Covid-19 since March 2020.

The Azores now has 17 new cases and counts 4,808 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 380,141 men and 457,256 women in Portugal, DGS data show, according to which there are 318 cases of unknown gender, which are under investigation as this information is not provided automatically.

Of the total number of fatalities, 8,918 were men and 8,063 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, 11,172 were people aged over 80, 3,616 were aged between 70 and 79, and 1,521 were aged between 60 and 69.

The pandemic caused at least 3,214,644 deaths worldwide, resulting from more than 153.4 million cases of infection, according to a review by the French agency AFP.