Portugal, affected for several weeks by an upsurge in the coronavirus epidemic due to the Delta variant, crossed the threshold of 4,000 new cases on Wednesday in 24 hours, according to the health authorities.

The country of 10 million inhabitants recorded 4,153 new contaminations, of which almost half (1,928) in the region of Lisbon.

Nationally, this is the highest number since February 10, when Portugal was strictly confined.

Predominant variant in the country

With a total of 734 people treated by hospitals on Wednesday, hospitalizations fell slightly but those in intensive care increased with 171 patients in these units, the highest since March 19, according to the Directorate General of Health (DGS).

The Delta variant of the coronavirus, which has caused a rebound in contagions in Portugal in recent weeks, has become predominant in the country.

According to the latest report from the National Institute of Public Health (Insa) released on Tuesday, the relative frequency of the variant first identified in India reached nearly 90% for the week ended July 4.

In Lisbon and its surroundings as well as in the very touristy region of the Algarve (south), it was, according to this source, responsible for 100% of new cases over the same period.

Extension of the sanitary pass, curfew ...

In an attempt to contain this more contagious variant, the government decided last week to expand the use of the health pass, in particular to stay in a hotel or, on weekends, to have access to the interior of restaurants in the most affected regions.

The hours of these establishments have been reduced and a night curfew, from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., initially restricted to the 45 most affected municipalities, now applies to the 60 municipalities with the highest incidence rate.

Almost all of these localities are located in the regions of Lisbon, the Algarve and large northern cities such as Porto and Braga, ie half of the Portuguese population.

In Portugal, 60% of the population has already received a first injection and 42% is fully vaccinated, according to the latest data from the DGS.

Since the start of the pandemic, Portugal has recorded 17,182 deaths and 916,559 cases according to health authorities.

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