COVID-19 hospitalizations hit 10-month high in Portugal

LISBON, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) — A total of 1,203 COVID-19 patients are in hospital in Portugal on Tuesday, the highest number in the last 10 months, said the country’s Directorate-General for Health (DGS).

An additional 36 people were hospitalized over the past 24 hours, with 147 patients in intensive care units.

Meanwhile, 25,836 new infections and 15 more deaths were reported nationwide, bringing the national tally to 1,460,406 and 19,015, respectively.

The Omicron variant is responsible for nearly 90 percent of COVID-19 infections in the European country, said the National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge (INSA) in a report Tuesday.

In just a month after the first Omicron cases were detected in the country, there was a “sudden increase” in COVID-19 infections, according to the report.

Read more: Portugal to vaccinate children against COVID-19

Since Dec. 6, the proportion of probable Omicron cases has been growing, the report said, noting that it reached an estimated 89.6 percent on Jan. 3.

After analyzing 24,638 sequences of the genome obtained from samples collected in over 100 laboratories, hospitals, and institutions, the INSA found that the community circulation of this variant in Portugal is similar to the “scenario observed in other European countries.”  Enditem