Portugal Reports Record Number of Daily Coronavirus Cases

(Bloomberg) -- Portugal on Thursday reported the biggest daily increase in confirmed coronavirus cases since the start of the outbreak.

There were 16,432 new cases in a day, more than the previous record of 15,333 announced on Jan. 23, taking the total to 685,383. The southern European nation has one of the world’s highest new coronavirus cases and deaths per million inhabitants over the last seven days.

• The government reported 303 fatalities in a day, more than the previous record of 293 on Wednesday, taking the total to 11,608 deaths.
• The number of patients in intensive-care units fell by 1 to 782. The country’s national health service has a capacity of about 1,200 intensive-care beds.

Portugal’s parliament on Thursday approved an extension of the state of emergency for another two weeks. Measures during that period include travel restrictions for citizens who want to travel abroad by air and land, Home Affairs Minister Eduardo Cabrita said in parliament on Thursday.

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