Portugal once again surpasses 100,000 tests in a single day – Observer
About 113,000 tests for covid-19 were carried out in Portugal on Thursday, surpassing 100,000 in a single day for the second time since the beginning of the pandemic, revealed this Saturday the ‘task force’ of testing.
The highest number of tests in a day was also registered this week, on Tuesday, November 30, when around 117,000 were carried out, according to authorities, who stressed that all these numbers exclude self-tests.
Before this week, when new pandemic control rules came into effect, with the requirement for testing for more situations, including vaccinated, the day with the highest number of tests occurred on April 21 of this year, with about 98,000.
The positivity rate of the 113,000 tests carried out on December 2 was 2.5%, according to a statement released today by the Task Force to promote the Operationalization Plan for the Testing Strategy for SARS-CoV-2 in Portugal.
Between November 30th and December 2nd, around 300 thousand tests were carried out in Portugal and, on November 26th, 21 million were reached since March 2020, the note reads.
“In November, around 1.5 million diagnostic tests were carried out, with a daily average of around 50,000 tests”, revealed a ‘task force’ of testing to covid-19.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, approximately 15.2 million TAAN / PCR tests and approximately 6.4 million TRAg for professional use (rapid) have been performed, for a total of 21.6 million tests.
The rapid antigen tests carried out in pharmacies and laboratories that adhere to the exceptional reimbursement scheme were once again free of charge on 19 November.
The exceptional and temporary regime had ended in October, taking into account that Portugal was close to reaching 85% of the population fully vaccinated against covid-19, but the reduction was resumed when reactivating it due to the current epidemiological situation, with an increase in cases of covid-19 and admissions.
The measure, which now covers the entire population, “intends to strengthen the protection of public health and the control of the covid-19 pandemic and runs until December 31”, refers to the testing task force, coordinated by Fernando Almeida, president of the Doctor Ricardo Jorge National Health Institute (INSA).
In the statement, the working group recalls that the reactivation of the exceptional and temporary reimbursement scheme “aims to contribute to the detection and early isolation of cases, to prevent and mitigate the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on health services and populations vulnerable, as well as reducing and controlling the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection and monitoring the epidemiological evolution of covid-19.
Since December 1st, no access to homes, healthcare facilities, large cultural or sporting events and nightclubs has been required to present a negative SARS-CoV-2 virus detection test, a measure that even applies to people vaccinated against covid-19.