According to the ruling, the number of verified COVID-19 deaths from January 2020 to April 2021 is only 152, not about 17,000 as claimed by government ministries.

All the "others" died for various reasons, although their PCR test was positive.

"We live in a fraud of unprecedented dimensions," wrote Dias.

"The data are from the Sistema de Informação dos Certificados de Óbito (Death Certificate Information System – SICO), the only such system in Portugal. The reference to 152 death certificated issued 'under Justice Ministry supervision' is spurious, as all death certificates are issued under Justice Ministry auspices, being the only institution that issues them.