Atlas has more recent updates here.
April 14: Total number of confirmed coronavirus cases is now 17,448,and 567 people infected with the virus have died, while only 347 have recovered, according to DGS. The country has administered more than 191,000 tests since March 1 — but there remain more than 142,000 suspected cases.
Potential Slowdown in Testing During Easter
Twenty-nine more people infected with the coronavirus in Portugal have died since Eastern Sunday, Direção-Geral de Saúde said on Monday, April 13. But we also saw the smallest increase in the number of confirmed cases of infection since March 24. The total is now 16,934. The number of suspected cases is 139,184, which also shows a slower growth rate.
However, either DGS has stopped reporting on new testing — the last figures available on Monday were from April 9 — or there hasn’t been any testing during the Easter holidays…
Source: Direção-Geral de SaúdeEaster Sunday
As of Easter Sunday, Portugal has more than 16,500 people infected with the coronavirus, 504 of whom have now died.
The Portuguese health system has been doing a commendable job overall: since March 1, health officials have tested more than 163,000 people. People in critical need are reportedly getting the treatment they need. The numbers, while tragic and frightening, are manageable, from everything we know thus far.
We, however — as in the general population, as in you and me, my friend — may have to do a bit more to help the many doctors and nurses working overtime to contain this thing. The number of suspected cases in Portugal, despite a steady increase in daily testing, continues rising, with more than 136,000 people suspected of having the virus as of Sunday morning. And the number of new confirmed cases, after stabilizing for a few days, soared again on Friday, which means whatever flattening of the curve we saw earlier isn’t a certainty any longer.
Source: Direção-Geral de SaúdeStay vigilant and #FicaEmCasa.
April 9
As of Thursday, 409 people infected with the coronavirus in Portugal have died, which is 29 more people since Wednesday.
The number of confirmed cases rose by 805 since Wednesday, to almost 14,000. The curve may be flattening, but it’s not doing it very quickly… There are also more than 115,000 suspected cases, which is a jump of around 10,000 from Wednesday — a bigger jump than we saw Tuesday to Wednesday.
DGS Releases Number of Coronavirus Tests
April 8: Thirty-five more people infected with the coronavirus in Portugal have died since Tuesday, brigning the total to 380, while the number of confirmed cases rose to 13,141, according to Direção-Geral de Saúde.
But today is the first day that DGS began posting the number of suspected samples it’s processed, i.e., how many coronavirus tests it’s performed — and it’s rather impressive.
Since March 1, Portugal’s health authorities have gone through around 130,000 140,370 samples. Since March 30, health officials have been processing between 5,000 and 9,000 10,000 tests every day, according to DGS.
The number of suspected cases rose again, to almost 105,000 — but the rate of new suspected cases has not reached a peak since March 31.
April 7
Thirty-four more people infected with the coronavirus in Portugal have died, bringing the total to 345, DGS reported Tuesday. The number of confirmed cases increased to 12,442, while the number of suspected cases is now almost 100,000.
Illustration by Bogdan KamutaApril 6
As of Monday afternoon, 311 people have died out of a total of 11,730 confirmed coronavirus cases in Portugal. We’ve stabilized the number of new cases — they’re growing, but slower. Around 91,800 suspected cases — also growing, but also slower.
Portugal’s Mortality Rate vs. Spain and Italy’s
Apirl 5 Update: Twenty-nine more people infected with the coronavirus died in Portugal from Saturday to Sunday, according to DGS. That brings the total to 295, out of total of 11,278 confirmed cases, which makes Portugal’s mortality rate around 2.6%, well below the average in other parts of Europe, such as Italy and Spain, although remember that how the deaths and the cases are reported can be very different.
The amount of confirmed cases being reported hasn’t gone to new highs for a few days now, so we may see light at the end of the tunnel in the next few weeks. #FicaEmCasa: the state of emergency is very much in effect until April 17.
And the number of suspected cases is still rising, without flattening out just yet: as of Sunday afternoon, more than 86,000 people in Portugal are suspected of having contracted COVID-19, up from a little over 81,000 on Saturday and around 74,400 on Friday.
April 4
DGS reports 266 people dead and more than 10,500 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, and over 81,000 suspected cases.
April 3
Thirty-seven more people infected with the coronavirus have died in Portugal, bringing the total to 246 as of Friday morning, according to DGS.
But the number of additional confirmed cases since Thursday — 852 — appears to remain steady after increasing daily for weeks. More good news is that the number of people in intensive care units only rose from 240 on Thursday to 245 on Friday.
The extent of suspected cases, however, shows no sign of slowing down, with more than 74,000 people in Portugal now suspected of being infected.
April 2
Portugal now has more than 9,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, and 209 people who’ve tested positive have died so far. More than 1,000 people infected with the virus are hospitalized, 240 of them in intensive care units, while close to 5,000 more people are awaiting lab results.
DGS is reporting that only 68 people have recovered, although that figure is likely much higher in reality: it makes sense to focus the testing on those who don’t show signs of improvement, after all.
For now, it seems the number of new confirmed cases from day to day is stabilizing, although it’s certainly too soon to tell whether the trend will continue.
What’s more, the number of suspected cases continues climbing steadily, reaching close to 67,000 on Thursday.
Graça Freitas, director of DGS, said Wednesday that it’s still not possible to predict the peak of the pandemic here in Portugal with any certainty.
State of Emergency Extended to April 17
There’s no surprise, then, that the Portuguese Parliament voted Thursday morning to renew the state of emergency until April 17. More restrictions on movement, particularly during the Easter holiday, are likely.
April 1
Portugal has lost 187 people to complications arising from contracting the coronavirus as of Wednesday evening. More than 8,250 have tested positive, and a further 58,457 people are suspected cases — a figure that keeps growing by thousands and thousands of people daily without any sign of a flattening of that curve yet.
DGS Admits Counting Porto Cases Twice
Only 43 people infected in Portugal have recovered so far, but as mentioned before, this is likely due to the Portuguese health workers focusing their time on the critically ill in emergency rooms instead of those peacefully recovering at home, so don’t go ape-shit now, please. Mind you, DGS also admitted to counting the confirmed cases in Porto TWICE the other day, so there’s also just your basic level of we-can’t-fucking-handle-this going on.
March 31
Twenty more people in Portugal have died from the coronavirus since Monday, RTP reported Tuesday morning, bringing the total to 160. There’s also been more than 1,000 new confirmed cases since Monday.
14-Year-Old Boy Reportedly Didn’t Die from COVID-19
But the 14-year-old boy who died Sunday morning after contracting the virus reportedly succumbed to difficulties arising from meningitis rather than the coronavirus, Jornal de Notícias reports, citing a family member who says they’re received the autopsy report.
Recoveries from Coronavirus Stall
As of Monday, Portugal had 6,408 people who’ve tested positive for the coronavirus, of which 140 have died, according to DGS. Porto is now the municipality with the highest number of confirmed cases, with 941, while Lisbon is second, with 633.
Meanwhile, 571 of the confirmed cases around the country are hospitalized, including 164 people who are in intensive care. The number of suspected cases jumped by more than 5,000 for the third day running, reaching 44,206.
There have also not been any more recoveries from the virus since Thursday, according to DGS’s statistics. Only 43 people of the more than 6,400 cases have so far recovered, although those figures may turn out to be out of date, as the bulk of the people who’ve contracted the virus are recovering at home.
March 29
The coronavirus continues claiming lives in Portugal, with health officials reporting 119 people dead as of Sunday morning.
The Youngest Victim in Portugal? A 14-Year-Old Boy
One of the victims was a 14-year-old boy, the youngest person so far to die in Portugal after contracting the virus, although health officials are urging the public to not jump to conclusions. The boy, who died early Sunday morning, had suffered from psoriasis, a chronic condition that destabilizes the immune system, according to RTP. Graça Freitas, director of DGS, said that while he was diagnosed with Covid-19, that “does not prevent him from having other equally serious and infectious situations, being investigated,” according to Diário de Notícias.
Portugal now has 5,962 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection —1,694 of which have been reported since Friday. Lisbon, with 594 cases, remains ahead of Porto, with 417, and all other major municipalities.
Near Lisbon, there are a further 74 confirmed cases in Oeiras, 64 in Almada, 54 in Amadora, 63 in Odivelas, 110 in Cascais and 148 in Sintra.
The number of suspected cases around the country, meanwhile, is now more than 38,000, with a further 5,508 awaiting laboratory results and 17,785 under monitoring. And only 43 people have recovered from the virus — which is unchanged since Thursday.
March 26
The death toll has risen to 60 people and the number of suspected cases has gone up by more than 1000 to 22,257, according to the Direcão-Geral da Saúde’s website.
The number of those who have recovered from the virus has risen to 43, but the curve still isn’t flattening out as the amount of confirmed cases has risen by about 550 since yesterday. Of the 3,544 confirmed cases, 187 of them are in Lisbon while 137 of them are in Porto.
March 25
Ten more people have died in Portugal after contracting the coronavirus, bringing the total death toll to 43, according to Direcção-Geral da Saúde.
Things Are MUCH Worse in Spain and Italy
We’re faring far better here in Portugal than our friends in Spain, Italy, and many other countries. Close to 70,000 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Italy and more than 6,800 have died, according to Reuters. In Spain, more than 42,000 have been infected and close to 3,000 have died. Close to 2,000 people infected with the virus have so far died in Iran, 1,100 in France and more than 700 in the U.S.
But let’s look at some unpleasant math in Portugal, shall we.
The number of confirmed cases in Portugal rose from 2,362 reported on Tuesday to 2,995 on Wednesday — which is the biggest jump in confirmed cases so far in Portugal.
An even more concerning number is the amount of suspected cases: it was 15,474 on Tuesday, but jumped to 21,155 on Wednesday, according to DGS. The number of people who have recovered from the virus, however, has stayed the same from Tuesday to Wednesday — just 22.
To bring the point home for everyone in Lisbon: today, DGS began separating confirmed cases by municipality (before, it had split the country into North, Center, Lisbon/Tejo Valley, Algarve, Alentejo, Madeira and Azores).
Lisbon Takes the Lead as Municipality with Most Confirmed Cases
With the new breakdown, it turns out that the highest number of confirmed cases — 175 187 — is right here in Lisbon. That’s followed by Porto, with 126 137 cases, Maia, with 119.
Looking back toward Lisbon, Oeiras has 17 confirmed cases, Odivelas has 18, Cascais and Sintra each have 43, and Almada, across the Tejo from Lisbon, has 35.
Stay home, people. We are far from flattening of the curve. As Portugal’s Prime Minister, António Costa, said Tuesday, “A tsunami is a tsunami. This process is going to be painful.” There’s no need to panic — and stop buying out the masks, the hospitals need them while you don’t unless you’re sick!
But it’s everyone’s responsibility to help stop the spread of the virus: wash hands, don’t touch your face, keep two meters between you and others, don’t cough on people, and check in with each other so we don’t collectively lose our minds, please.
