Portugal's daily COVID-19 deaths hit record high

Reuters
·1 min read
FILE PHOTO: Two women walk in Alfama neighbourhood wearing protective masks during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Lisbon

LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal reported 95 deaths linked to COVID-19 on Friday, its worst daily toll since the pandemic started, as countries across Europe struggled to contain a second wave of infections.

The figures from the national DGS health authority came a week before the government is expected to re-evaluate plans to ease restrictions over the Christmas period.

The country of just over 10 million people has now reported 5,373 deaths and a total of 340,287 infections, up by 5,080 cases from Thursday.

After a relatively mild first wave, cases rose sharply in the second, though they have eased slightly recently.

The number of infections per 100,000 people measured over the past 14 days is, at 533, more than double that in neighbouring Spain, data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control showed.

The government said on Saturday it would ease coronavirus rules over Christmas to let people visit loved ones, but added it would keep checking the data and reevaluate its plans on Dec. 18.

For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread of COVID-19, open https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/ in an external browser.

(Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Andrew Heavens)