MILAN (Reuters) – Italy reported 488 coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday, up from 472 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections fell further to 13,331 from 13,633.
Some 286,331 tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the past day, against a previous 264,728, the health ministry said.
Italy has now registered 85,162 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak came to light last February, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the sixth-highest in the world. The country has reported 2.46 million cases.
Patients in hospital with COVID-19 – not including those in intensive care – stood at 21,403 on Saturday, compared with 21,691 a day earlier.
There were 174 new admissions to intensive care units, against 144 the day before. The total number of intensive care patients was little changed at 2,386, against 2,390.
When Italy’s second wave of the epidemic was accelerating quickly in the first half of November, hospital admissions were rising by about 1,000 per day, while intensive care occupancy was increasing by about 100 per day.
(Reporting by Valentina Za; Editing by Alex Richardson and David Holmes)
