Portugal’s Wednesday bulletin proves one very important point: Rt can increase, infections can continue, but numbers in hospitals are steadily falling. This validates the prediction of virologist Pedro Simas last month (click here), who said 90% of mortality will have ‘disappeared’ by the time Portugal has vaccinated the bulk of the population over the age of 70. As of this week 84% of people aged from 65 to 79 have received at least one dose of a vaccine against Covid-19. Today’s bulletin shows incidence is down to 48.7 cases per 100,000 people (mainland Portugal), Rt up slightly to 0.93; new infections number 485; ‘recoveries’ 315, and four deaths – two of them in the Algarve. There are less than 250 people in hospitals, 71 in intensive care.
