Communiqué from the Regional Health Authority - Communication

Secretaria Regional da Saúde e Desporto

Regarding the current evolution of the pandemic situation on the island of Terceira, in particular the reduction in the number of new cases and the identification of existing local transmission chains, it is verified that the island of Terceira no longer has evidence of community transmission, so it is now at a very low risk level.

Last 24 hours

14 new positive cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed in the Azores following 775 analyses in the reference laboratories.

On the island of São Miguel: 2 travellers, non-resident, who tested positive after presenting symptoms.  

A new primary local transmission chain has emerged on the island of Pico, originated from a non-resident citizen, which, following an epidemiological investigation, was found to be the source of contamination of the case reported in yesterday’s report and which was not assessed.  

With the extinction of community transmission on the island of terceira and being considered local transmission, a new primary local transmission chain is originated with the positive case reported in today’s press release, as well as four additional primary and secondary local transmission chains of positive cases active on the island of Terceira, whose source of contamination is identified.  

Hospitalisations: 

As of today, 13 patients are hospitalised, all at the Divino Espírito Santo Hospital in Ponta Delgada, with three in Intensive Care Unit.

Local transmission chains: 

10 primary local transmission chains are active in the archipelago: two on the island of Graciosa, one on the island of Faial, one on the island of Pico, five on the island of Terceira and one shared between the islands of Faial and São Jorge. To date, 229 have been extinguished on all islands. There are 684 people under active surveillance today.

Current situation:

It was verified that two positive cases, non-residents, one in the parish of Santa Clara, municipality of Ponta Delgada, and one in the parish of Cabouco in the municipality of Lagoa, left the region thus are no longer considered positive cases in the region.

It was identified a false positive case on the island of São Miguel, in the parish of Ponta Delgada (São Sebastião) in the municipality of Ponta Delgada, and therefore is no longer registered in the active cases of the region.    

The archipelago currently registers 267 positive active cases: 229 on the island of São Miguel, 16 on the island of Terceira, 11 on the island of Graciosa, six on the island of Faial, three on the island of São Jorge and two on the island of Pico.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 8,616 positive cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed in the Azores and 8,142 people have recovered from the disease. There were 41 deaths, 94 people who left the archipelago and 72 cases with history of previous cure. To date, 674,604 tests have been carried out for SARS-CoV-2 virus which causes COVID-19 disease.   

From 31 December 2020 to 26 August, 163,227 people in the Azores have been vaccinated with the first dose (69,0 per cent) and 167,079 with complete vaccination (70,6 per cent), under the Regional Vaccination Plan. 

Recoveries: