TamilPortugal braces for record covid cases as Omicron spreads
23 December 2021, 3:37 pm
People wait on line to get tested for COVID-19 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/Brittainy Newman)
Portugal’s health minister on Wednesday predicted the Omicron variant would trigger a record number of infections in the coming days as authorities reported nearly 9,000 new cases, the highest since early February and up from 5,754 the previous day.
Although the country has one of the world’s highest rates of COVID-19 vaccination with around 87% of its 10 million population fully inoculated, daily infections have returned to levels last seen when Portugal faced its worst wave of the illness in the first two months of the year. “We will most likely reach an (all-time) record number of cases in the coming days,” Health Minister Marta Temido said in an interview with TVI television.
Portugal reported a record 16,432 cases in late January when the public system was on the verge of collapse. Deaths and hospitalisations are far below levels then suffered. There are 909 people with COVID-19 in hospital compared to a peak of 6,869 patients on Feb. 1.
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