Portugal experiences worst day of COVID-19 pandemic

Portugal on Wednesday recorded its worst day since the beginning of the pandemic, with 14,647 new coronavirus infections and 219 deaths related to COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, reported Xinhua.

The cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases now stands at 581,605, with 9,465 fatalities.

Portugal's Directorate General of Health (DGS) reported 202 new hospitalizations, bringing the total to 5,493, with 681 patients in intensive care.

According to the Portuguese health authorities, the number of active coronavirus cases has skyrocketed by more than 7,935 patients, adding up to 143,776 infected at this time, the highest ever.

Meanwhile, a further 6,493 people have recovered from the disease in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of COVID-19 patients declared cured to 428,364.

On Wednesday, Portugal entered a new two-week nationwide lockdown in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus. The state of emergency will remain in force until Jan. 30.

The rules include a night-time curfew starting at 8 p.m. and on weekends at 1 p.m., a ban on movement between municipalities and regular checks on compliance with the telework order.

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in Portugal and some other countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.

Meanwhile, 237 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 64 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Organization on Jan. 15.