According to the epidemiological bulletin of the Directorate-General for Health (DGS), 898 people with Covid-19 are hospitalised today, 21 less than on Wednesday, 196 of whom are in intensive care, eight less.

The area of Lisbon and Tagus Valley with 947 cases and the North region with 866 have 70.2 percent of the total of new infections recorded in the last 24 hours.

The 10 deaths occurred in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region (3), in the North region (2) in the Centre region (3), in the Algarve (1) and in the Alentejo (1).

Regarding age groups, the bulletin reveals that of the total number of deaths notified in the last 24 hours, seven were over 80 years old, one between 70 and 79, one between 40 and 49 and one male child in the age group between 0 and 9 years old.

Regarding the 2,581 infections in the last 24 hours, the bulletin records that 233 are between 0 and 9 years, 528 between 10 and 19 years, 588 between 20 and 29 years, 369 between 30 and 39 years, 296 between 40 and 49 years, 226 between 50 and 59 years, 144 between 60 and 69 years, 104 between 70 and 79 years and 88 over 80 years.

The data released by the DGS also shows that there are 2,176 fewer active cases totalling 45,198 and that 4,747 people have been reported recovered in the last 24 hours, which increases the national total to 917,367 recovered.

Since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, 17,422 people have died in Portugal and 979,987 cases of infection have been recorded.

Health authorities have 923 fewer people on surveillance in the last 24 hours, totalling 69,386.

The Lisbon and Tagus Valley region, with 947 new infections, has so far recorded 382,878 cases and 7,436 deaths.

In the North region, 866 new infections by SARS-CoV-2 were registered, totalling 379,281 cases of infection and 5,446 deaths since the pandemic began.

In the Centre region, 310 more cases have been recorded, totalling 131,071 infections and 3,051 deaths.

In the Alentejo, 143 more cases were reported, totalling 34,292 infections and 984 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

In the Algarve region, the bulletin reveals that 230 new cases were registered, accumulating 33,979 infections and 395 deaths.

The Autonomous Region of Madeira has registered 38 new cases, adding 10,772 infections and 72 deaths due to Covid-19 since March 2020.

The Azores now has 47 new cases accounting for 7,714 cases and 38 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

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 450,132 men and 529,188 women in Portugal, DGS data show, according to which there are 667 cases of unknown gender, which are under investigation as this information is not provided automatically.

Of the total number of fatalities, 9,146 were men and 8,276 women.

The highest number of deaths continues to be concentrated among the elderly over 80 years old, followed by the age group between 70 and 79 years old.

Of the total number of deaths, 11,399 were people aged over 80, 3,725 were aged between 70 and 79, and 1,580 were aged between 60 and 69.

As for infections, the bulletin reveals that of the total of 979,987 people infected since the start of the pandemic, 58,426 were aged between 0 and 9 years, 98,739 between 10 and 19 years, 152,985 between 20 and 29 years, 145,164 between 30 and 39 years, 160,824 between 40 and 49 years, 137,437 between 50 and 59 years, 93,238 between 60 and 69 years, 59,882 between 70 and 79 years and 72,630 over 80 years.

The national incidence rate of SARS-CoV-2 virus infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the past 14 days is 376.9 cases and the transmissibility index (Rt) is now 0.92.

Wednesday's joint epidemiological bulletin from the Directorate-General of Health and the National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge states that the national incidence rate has fallen from 394.6 cases on Monday to 376.9.

Considering only mainland Portugal, this indicator also decreased from 403.1 cases registered on Monday to 384.5 cases of infection by SARS-CoV-2 per 100 thousand inhabitants.

The Rt - which estimates the number of secondary cases of infection resulting from a person carrying the virus - is 0.92, continuing its downward trend. In the continent, the Rt also decreased from 0.94 to 0.92.

The data on Rt and incidence of new cases per 100,000 inhabitants at 14 days - indicators that make up the risk matrix for monitoring the pandemic - are updated by health authorities on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.