ROME (Reuters) – Italy reported 491 coronavirus-related deaths on Monday against 484 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections declined to 12,030 from 17,938.
There were 103,584 swabs carried out in the past day, down sharply from a previous 152,697, the ministry said.
The first Western country hit by the virus, Italy has seen 65,011 COVID-19 fatalities since its outbreak emerged in February, the highest toll in Europe and the fifth highest in the world.
It has also registered 1.856 million cases to date.
Patients in hospital with COVID-19 stood at 27,765 on Monday, up by 30 from the day before.
There were 138 new admissions to intensive care units, slowing compared with 152 on Sunday.
The number of intensive care patients decreased by 63 to 3,095, reflecting those who died or were discharged after recovery.
When Italy’s second wave of the epidemic was accelerating fast in the first half of November, hospital admissions were rising by around 1,000 per day, while intensive care occupancy was increasing by about 100 per day.
(Reporting By Gavin Jones, editing by Angelo Amante)
