Seventh highest number of new Covid-19 cases in Europe

  • Lusa
  • 18 April 2022

According to figures updated this Monday, Portugal had an average of 995 new daily cases per million inhabitants, above the European average of 819 and the world average, which is 110.

Portugal was the seventh country in the European Union with the most new daily cases of Covid-19 per million inhabitants in the last week, but daily deaths attributed to the disease remain stable, according to the statistical site Our World in Data.

According to figures updated this Monday, Portugal had an average of 995 new daily cases per million inhabitants, above the European average of 819 and the world average, which is 110.

In the European Union, Cyprus has the highest average, with 1,920 new cases per million inhabitants, followed by France (1,850), Germany (1,340), Luxemburg (1,270) and Austria (1,150).

Globally, and considering only countries or territories with over one million inhabitants, South Korea has the highest average in this indicator (2,590), followed by Cyprus, France, Australia (1,710) and New Zealand (1,570).

Concerning new deaths per million inhabitants attributed to the disease, Portugal has a daily average of 2.3, slightly below the average of 2.4 that Our World in Data showed a fortnight ago.

The European Union average for this indicator is 1.8, and the world average is 0.3.

Of the EU countries, Greece has the highest average (6.3), followed by Finland (4.7), Slovakia (4.5), Malta (4.4) and Austria (3.5).

Worldwide, and considering only countries with more than one million inhabitants, Hong Kong (Chinese special administrative region) has the highest average (6.9), followed by Greece, Finland, Slovakia and South Korea (4.3).

The disease is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, detected in late 2019 in Wuhan, a city in central China.

The Omicron variant, which spreads and mutates rapidly, has become dominant worldwide since it was first detected in South Africa in November.