"Today marks six years since the diagnosis of the first two cases of COVID in Portugal, on 2 March 2020, which began a long health battle in Portugal and throughout the world," reads a short note published on the official website of the Presidency of the Republic.

The Head of State adds that this was a "battle won by the Portuguese people, with much suffering and commitment, but in unity and solidarity."

In Portugal, the first cases of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, responsible for COVID-19, were recorded on 2 March 2020. Days later, on 11 March, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared a pandemic.

On 16 March 2020, the first patient with COVID-19 died in Portugal, where, according to the National Institute of Health, Dr Ricardo Jorge (INSA), between 2020 and 2022, more than 3.4 million cases of infection were reported, and more than 21,000 people died due to this disease.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, which marked the transition between his two terms, the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, declared a state of emergency in Portugal 15 times, after consulting the Government and obtaining Parliament's approval, and, in that context, addressed the country repeatedly.