Portugal at breaking point after surge in COVID-19 cases

COVID-19

Portugal at breaking point

Portugal allocated 850 ICU

beds to treat COVID-19

patients on its mainland.

 

It needed 877 on Feb. 3.

800

600

400

ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients

200

0

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

2020

2021

Portugal allocated 850 ICU

beds to treat COVID-19

patients on its mainland.

 

It needed 877 on Feb. 3.

800

600

400

ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients

200

0

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

2020

2021

Portugal allocated 850 ICU

beds to treat COVID-19

patients on its mainland.

 

It needed 877 on Feb. 3.

800

600

400

ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients

200

0

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

2020

2021

Portugal allocated 850 ICU

beds to treat COVID-19

patients on its mainland.

 

It needed 877 on Feb. 3.

800

600

400

ICU beds occupied

by COVID-19 patients

200

0

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

2020

2021

Hospitals across the country of just over 10 million people are struggling, with ambulances sometimes queueing for hours because of a lack of beds. Some health units are also finding it hard to find enough refrigerated space to preserve the bodies of the deceased.

Health Ministry data showed that out of 850 ICU beds allocated to COVID-19 cases on the mainland, all were now occupied. On Wednesday, there were a record 877 COVID-19 patients in ICU beds. Portugal has an additional 420 ICU beds for those with other ailments, but the high demand on intensive care units to treat severe COVID-19 cases shows the strain the country’s healthcare system is under from the recent surge in coronavirus cases.

With 877 coronavirus patients in intensive care and 6,684 in hospital wards, hospitals are running out of beds, and there is a shortage of doctors and nurses.

Portuguese officials have blamed the huge increase in infection and death rates on the more contagious variant of the disease first detected in Britain, while acknowledging that a relaxation of restrictions on movement over the Christmas holidays also played a role.

As mainland intensive care units became scarce, the regional government on the island of Madeira offered 157 beds to take patients, even though it is also experiencing a spike in COVID-19 cases. Portugal started airlifting patients to Madeira on Jan. 29.

Portugal reported close to half of all of its COVID-19 deaths in January alone, highlighting a steep acceleration in cases that has prompted several European nations to offer help.

A German military plane carrying more than 20 doctors and nurses together with ventilators and hospital beds arrived on Wednesday. The German team will manage a new unit of eight ICU beds in a private hospital in Lisbon, Hospital da Luz, which was equipped but lacked staff, Health Minister Marta Temido said at the military base where the plane landed.

The medical team, consisting of eight doctors and 18 nurses, brought with them 150 hospital beds and 50 ventilators. “This is a vivid sign of European solidarity and a symbol of hope,” German Ambassador Martin Ney said at the military base.

Austria is willing to take intensive care patients and is waiting for Portuguese authorities to propose how many they want to transfer, the Austrian embassy in Lisbon said.

Hard-hit neighbour Spain has offered help, too, but Portugal has yet to accept, a Spanish foreign ministry source told Reuters.

From an exemplary country in 2020 ...

Portugal was able to curb the spread of the coronavirus during the first wave of the pandemic, while nearby countries like Spain and Italy were among the worst hit worldwide. However, a look in detail at excess deaths data for 2020 shows three peaks above average levels in Portugal during the spring, summer and autumn.

Excess death in Europe in 2020

Percentage difference in weekly deaths

in 2020 compared with 2015-2019

average for the same week.

+150%

DEC.

JAN.

+100%

Bulgaria

Poland

+50%

0%

Czechia

Italy

Spain

U.K.

Portugal

Weekly deaths in Portugal in 2020

COVID-19

Non COVID

3k

2k

1k

+150%

DEC.

JAN.

+100%

Bulgaria

Poland

+50%

Excess death in Europe in 2020

0%

Percentage difference in weekly deaths

in 2020 compared with 2015-2019

average for the same week.

Czechia

Italy

Spain

U.K.

Portugal

Weekly deaths in Portugal

COVID-19

3k

Non COVID

Average 2015-2019

Most excess death

in the autumn

was related to

COVID-19

2k

Death lower than

average in the first

few months of

2020

1k

During the first

wave, near half

of excess death

was detected as

COVID-19

+150%

DEC.

JAN.

+100%

Bulgaria

Poland

+50%

Excess death in Europe in 2020

0%

Percentage difference in weekly deaths

in 2020 compared with 2015-2019

average for the same week.

Czechia

Italy

Spain

U.K.

Portugal

Weekly deaths in Portugal

COVID-19

3k

Non COVID

Average 2015-2019

Most excess death

in the autumn

was related to

COVID-19

2k

Death lower than

average in the first

few months of

2020

1k

During the first

wave, near half

of excess death

was detected as

COVID-19

Excess death in Europe in 2020

Percentage difference in weekly deaths

in 2020 compared with 2015-2019

average for the same week.

+150%

DEC.

JAN.

+100%

Bulgaria

Poland

+50%

0%

Czechia

Italy

Spain

U.K.

Portugal

Weekly deaths in Portugal in 2020

COVID-19

Non COVID

3k

2k

1k

… to the world’s highest infection rate in 2021

Of more than 711,000 infections reported in Portugal since March 2020, 43% were reported in January, 2021, according to health authority DGS. As of Jan. 28, Portugal had the world’s highest seven-day rolling average of new daily cases per million inhabitants, according to data tracker ourworldindata.org.

15k

10k

Daily new infections

5k

7-day average

Dec. 31,

2020

Feb. 3,

2021

300

200

Daily deaths

100

Feb. 3,

2021

Dec. 31,

2020

300

15k

200

10k

Daily new infections

Daily deaths

100

5k

7-day average

Feb. 3,

2021

Dec. 31,

2020

Dec. 31,

2020

Feb. 3,

2021

300

15k

200

10k

Daily new infections

Daily deaths

100

5k

7-day average

Feb. 3,

2021

Dec. 31,

2020

Dec. 31,

2020

Feb. 3,

2021

15k

10k

Daily new infections

5k

7-day average

Dec. 31,

2020

Feb. 3,

2021

300

200

Daily deaths

100

Feb. 3,

2021

Dec. 31,

2020

Portugal is currently reporting 9,067 new infections on average each day, 70% of the peak — the highest daily average reported on Jan. 28. The 5,576 COVID-19 fatalities reported in January represent about 45% of the 12,482 reported since the start of the pandemic.

Map of risk

Braga

In the early stages of the pandemic, most of the cases where confirmed in the northern municipalities of Felgueiras and Lousada. Even though Portugal did not have a significant number of cases, the government implemented a series of preventive measures.

Porto

PORTUGAL

Coimbra

Castelo Branco

Lisbon

During the autumn wave, most of the new cases were concentrated in the northern region and in and around the capital Lisbon.

Evora

Cases per 100k

population as

of Feb. 1

Setubal

EXTREMELY HIGH RISK

960

VERY HIGH RISK

Since January, the whole country has been hitting record levels of new infections.

480

HIGH RISK

240

MODERATE

Sagres

Faro

Map of risk

Braga

In the early stages of the pandemic, most of the cases where confirmed in the northern municipalities of Felgueiras and Lousada. Even though Portugal did not have a significant number of cases, the government implemented a series of preventive measures.

Porto

PORTUGAL

Coimbra

Castelo Branco

Cases per 100k

population as

of Feb. 1

Lisbon

During the autumn wave, most of the new cases were concentrated in the northern region and in and around the capital Lisbon.

Evora

Setubal

EXTREMELY HIGH RISK

960

VERY HIGH RISK

480

HIGH RISK

240

MODERATE

Since January, the whole country has been hitting record levels of new infections.

Sagres

Faro

Map of risk

In the early stages of the pandemic, most of the cases where confirmed in the northern municipalities of Felgueiras and Lousada. Even though Portugal did not have a significant number of cases, the government implemented a series of preventive measures.

Braga

Porto

PORTUGAL

Coimbra

Castelo Branco

Cases per 100k

population as

of Feb. 1

During the autumn wave, most of the new cases were concentrated in the northern region and in and around the capital Lisbon.

Lisbon

Evora

Setubal

EXTREMELY HIGH RISK

960

VERY HIGH RISK

480

HIGH RISK

240

MODERATE

Since January, the whole country has been hitting record levels of new infections.

Sagres

Faro

Map of risk

Cases per 100k population as of Feb. 1

240

480

960

MODERATE

RISK

HIGH

RISK

VERY

HIGH

EXTREMELY

HIGH

In the early stages of the pandemic, most of the cases where confirmed in the northern municipalities of Felgueiras and Lousada. Even though Portugal did not have a significant number of cases, the government implemented a series of preventive measures.

Braga

Porto

PORTUGAL

Coimbra

Lisbon

Evora

During the autumn wave, most of the new cases were concentrated in the northern region and in and around the capital Lisbon. Since January, the whole country has been hitting record levels of new infections.

Sagres

Faro

There have been 748,858 infections and 13,482 coronavirus-related deaths reported in the country since the pandemic began.

While many hope vaccinations against the virus will offer the country relief from the daily death toll, so far only about 70,000 people have been fully inoculated with the two required doses.

Sources

Portugal’s Portugal Directorate-General for Health; Portugal Health’s Ministry; Our World in Data; REUTERS

Graphics By

Samuel Granados

Edited by

Jon McClure and Mike Collett-White