LISBON, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Portugal surpassed the grim milestone of 100,000 COVID-19 infections Monday, with 1,949 cases confirmed in the last 24 hours.
The cumulative infections totaled 101,860 since the beginning of the pandemic, while the actives cases stood at 39,696, an increase of 966 compared to Sunday, according to the epidemiological bulletin of the Directorate-General for Health (DGS).
Portugal counted an additional 17 fatalities in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll since the pandemic outbreak to 2,198, the DGS bulletin showed.
The bulletin also revealed that 59,966 infected have recovered.
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prime Minister Antonio Costa have said recently that they will not rule out the possibility of returning to a state of emergency if the pandemic goes uncontrolled and kills dozens of Portuguese daily.
As the world is struggling to control the pandemic, countries across the globe -- among them Germany, China, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States -- are racing to find a vaccine. Enditem
