There are 76 new cases of Covid-19 in Portugal. Total rises to 245

  • ECO News
  • 15 March 2020

Portugal has registered 76 new cases of coronavirus, with the total number of infected confirmed by health authorities rising to 245.

Portugal has registered 76 new cases of coronavirus, with the total number of infected confirmed by the authorities rising to 245 as the epidemic confirms the country’s exponential growth trend. Lisbon has overtaken the North as the region with the most cases. The Azores region announced the first patient with Covid-19. Two have recovered.

The data were announced this Sunday by the Directorate General for Health (DGS) and relate to information relating to midnight this Saturday.

The Minister of Health, Marta Temido, had already declared this Saturday that Portugal has entered “a phase of exponential growth of the epidemic”, and is therefore expected to advance more rapidly in the coming days. “We expect that the next few weeks will be tough,” warned Temido.

The number of active transmission chains has increased from 11 to 14 and the number of patients awaiting a laboratory result has skyrocketed: 281 people are waiting for the result of the Covid-19 test, 155 more than the previous day’s balance. The DGS also revealed that in 1,746 cases the tests were negative.

The Lisbon and Vale do Tejo has the highest number of confirmed cases: 116 cases, an increase of 43 compared to the previous day. The Northern region follows, which was until now the main focus of the outbreak in the country: it accounts for 103 confirmed cases, plus 26. The Central region and the Algarve each register ten cases and the Autonomous Region of the Azores confirmed the first infected. Alentejo and Madeira still do not count any cases.