On the second day of the year, 509 people died. Not so many people have died in Portugal since the pandemic

On the second day of the year, the death rate reached 509 deaths in ten days, always more than 400 deaths. The high death rate seen last Tuesday comes as the country faces a cold spell and an influenza A epidemic that is sending thousands of patients to emergency rooms.

It is necessary to go back to the deadliest period of the Covid-19 pandemic to find days with similar numbers of deaths. Thus, since February 9, 2021, the date when the country faced the pandemic without vaccinating the majority of the population, so many people have not died.

519 people died on February 9, 2021, in a year in which the peak of deaths occurred on January 20 with 748 deaths, with the majority of victims dying from Covid-19.

The cold wave that has hit the country may explain the current peak in deaths. The cold weather will continue next week, with sub-zero temperatures recorded in the areas of Vila Real, Bragança, Guarda and Viseu. In Lisbon in the early morning of the 11th the temperature is predicted to be 4 degrees Celsius. On the same day, 3 degrees are expected in Porto, two in Coimbra and 7 in Faro.