Mainland Portugal with 404 outbreaks in schools, 26 more than last week
Mainland Portugal had 647 active outbreaks of covid-19 at the beginning of the week, mostly in schools, which have 26 more outbreaks than in the last week, according to data from the General Directorate of Health (DGS) released this Wednesday. market.
The DGS indicates that the more than 600 active outbreaks contrast with the maximum number of active outbreaks reached in the country in February, when 921 were counted.
The region of Lisbon and Vale do Tejo is the one with the most active outbreaks (347), followed by the North (175), the Center (63), the Algarve (38) and the Alentejo (24).
On Monday, 404 active outbreaks were recorded in particular of education and teaching in the public and private sectors – schools, higher education, day care centers and other social facilities, 3252 cases of accumulated covid-19, which concern students, professionals and cohabitants thereof, “part of which are already recovered, “added a health authority.
On the same day, 44 outbreaks were registered in nursing homes (39 last week), 404 (plus 26) in public and private schools and 14 in health institutions (minus one).
According to the DGS, the 44 outbreaks reported in nursing homes (ERPI) cover 568 cases of covid-19 provided outbreaks, part of which are already recovered.
In February, he recalled, Portugal recorded the highest number of active outbreaks in nursing homes, with 405, corresponding to about 12 thousand infected.
“The drastic decrease in this context demonstrates the importance that vaccination has no control of the pandemic and in protecting the most vulnerable population”, maintained the DGS.
A DGS also indicates that there are 14 outbreaks in health institutions, with 159 confirmed cases.
“An active outbreak consists of two or more confirmed cases with an epidemiological link to each other in time and space. Only after 28 days have elapsed from the date of diagnosis of the last confirmed case (two incubation periods without new cases) does the outbreak is given as closed “, is explained.
Covid-19 has caused at least 5,320,431 deaths worldwide since the start of the pandemic, according to the latest report by Agence France-Presse.
In Portugal, since March 2020, 18,698 people have died and 1,205,993 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 skin. minus 77 countries from all continents, including Portugal.