More than 22 million tests performed in Portugal – DNOTICIAS.PT
On Monday, Portugal surpassed 22 million coronavirus screening tests since the start of the pandemic, 642,000 of which were carried out in the first week of this month, today announced a `task force’ that coordinates the process.
In a statement, the testing strategy working group for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus said that, as of Monday, a total of 22,042,987 million tests had been performed, not including the self-tests.
Of these more than 22 million, 15.3 million were PCR tests and 6.7 million rapid antigen tests (TRAg), said a `task force’ led by Fernando Almeida, president of the National Health Institute Doctor Ricardo Jorge (INSA) ) .
According to the same source, more than 642,000 testicles were performed between December 1 and 6, of which 416 thousand (65%) were TRAg for professional use, with Portugal surpassing it in five days – November 30 and 02, 03, 04 and December 6 – A daily test of more than 100,000 screens for the virus.
As of November 19, TRAgs for professional use carried out in laboratories and pharmacies that adhere to the exceptional reimbursement scheme will once again be free, a measure that covers the entire population and will be in force until December 31.
According to data made available to Lusa by the National Association of Pharmacies, 812 pharmacies are carrying out this testing in a subsidized manner by the National Health Service, in addition to another 203 laboratories that adhered to this exceptional regime, according to the list today by the National Medicines Authority (Infarmed).
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 need to reactivate it decreased due to the current epidemiological situation, with the increase in cases of covid-19 and admissions.
Without access to homes and visits to users in health facilities and at major cultural or sporting events and nightclubs, it is now required to present a negative SARS-CoV-2 virus detection test, a measure that even applies to people vaccinated against a covid-19.
Covid-19 has caused at least 5,261,473 deaths worldwide, among more than 265.80 million infections by the new coronavirus registered since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the latest report by the Agence France-Presse.
In Portugal, since March 2020, 18,572 people have died and 1,172,420 cases of infection have been recorded, according to data from the General Directorate of Health.
The respiratory disease is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, detected in late 2019 in Wuhan, a city in central China, and currently with variants identified in several countries.
A new variant, Omicron, classified as “worrying” by the World Health Organization (WHO), has been detected in southern Africa, but since the South African health authorities raised the alert on 24 November, infections have been reported in some from 30 countries from all continents, including Portugal.