Tourists mingle at a restaurant on the beach in Matosinhos, Portugal 05/17/2021 REUTERS / Violetta Santos Mora Reuters
This content was published on Jun 30, 2021 – 17:49
LISBON (Reuters) – Portugal’s coronavirus cases increased by 2,362 in the past 24 hours, the largest increase since mid-February, official data showed on Wednesday, and authorities were scrambling to stop the spread of the more contagious delta type.
Portugal, with a population of 10 million people, faced its toughest battle with the coronavirus in January, but a recent surge in cases has pushed daily numbers to levels last seen in February, when the country was under a strict lockdown, but coronavirus deaths were daily. remain. In single digits, well below February levels.
The first cases of the delta variant were recorded in Portugal in April, and now account for more than half of the cases in the country, which has the second highest fixed average of seven days of cases per capita in the European Union.
In total, Portugal, which has fully vaccinated about 31% of its population, has recorded 879,557 cases and 17,096 deaths since the start of the pandemic. Most of the new cases are in Lisbon.
The authorities are working to speed up vaccination and impose new restrictions in some municipalities, including the Lisbon region.
The jump in infections comes after Portugal opened its doors to visitors from the European Union and the United Kingdom in mid-May. Most businesses have reopened, and as summer begins, the beaches are filling up.
The UK removed Portugal from its quarantine-free travel list earlier this month, and Portugal said on Monday that British visitors should be quarantined for 14 days if they are not fully vaccinated.
(by Catarina Dimoni and Sergio Goncalves)
