The number of municipalities with a number of patients infected with the new coronavirus above the national average rose from 34 to 47, according to the data now published, which are also related to April 22.

Of this set, 33 municipalities belong to the northern region of the country, indicated the INE in the second edition of the Context indicators for the covid-19 pandemic in Portugal, with the set of contiguous municipalities in the Porto Metropolitan Area highlighted, with more than 35 cases confirmed by 10,000 inhabitants in Valongo, Maia, Gondomar, Matosinhos, Porto, Santo Tirso and Vila Nova de Gaia.

Also, some municipalities in the central region and the Metropolitan Area of ??Lisbon have values ??above the national average.

The municipality with the highest rate in the country is Vila Nova de Foz Côa, with 121.7 confirmed cases per 10,000 inhabitants, a number more than five times higher than the national average.

The reading of the relationship between the number of confirmed cases per 10,000 inhabitants and the population density highlights a set of 32 municipalities with values ??above the national average in both indicators.

Of this group of 32 municipalities, there are seven with more than 50 confirmed cases per 10,000 inhabitants: Ovar (98.1), in Aveiro, Valongo (67.3), Maia (55.1), Gondomar (53.8), Matosinhos (53.1) and Porto (51.5), all in the Porto Metropolitan Area, and Braga (51.9) in Cávado.

On the other hand, 181 of the country's 308 municipalities had a confirmed number of cases per 10,000 inhabitants and population density below the national reference.

"Despite the progressive spread of the pandemic throughout the national territory, its impact continues to be characterized by a high regional heterogeneity, particularly when taking into account, in addition to the absolute numbers of cases and deaths, relative indicators according to the size and demographic density per kilometer. square of the territorial units considered in the analysis ", highlighted the INE.

At the same time, the statistical institute also provided data on general mortality (all causes of death) in Portugal between March 1 and April 12, and a comparison with the same period in the years 2019 and 2018, which reveals that, relatively on the analyzed dates, 1,222 more people died this year than in 2019, and 343 more compared to 2018.

INE pointed out that the increase in deaths compared to last year results mainly from the increase in the number of deaths in people aged 75 and over (1,194).

The first cases diagnosed with Covid-19 disease in Portugal were reported on March 2, and the first death was recorded on March 16, five days after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the covid-19 outbreak. as a pandemic.

INE presented the number of confirmed cases with covid-19 based on information released by the Directorate-General for Health (DGS), while information on deaths is obtained from civil registry data under the Integrated Registration and Identification System Civil (SIRIC).