ROME (Reuters) – Italy reported 347 coronavirus-related deaths on Sunday against 364 the previous day, the health ministry said, while the daily count of new infections increased from 11,831 to 14,245.
About 102,974 smear tests were performed the day before, the ministry said, against 67,174 earlier.
Italy has recorded 75,332 COVID-19 deaths since its outbreak surfaced on February 21, the highest number of deaths in Europe and the fifth largest in the world. The country has also recorded 2.155 million cases to date, the ministry of health said.
Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 were 23,075 on Sunday, 127 more the day before. There were 154 admissions to intensive care units, compared with 134 on Saturday.
The current number of intensive care patients has increased from 14 to 2,583, reflecting those who died or were discharged after recovery.
When the second wave of the epidemic in Italy was accelerating rapidly in the first half of November, hospital admissions were increasing by about 1,000 a day, while intensive care occupancy was increasing by about 100 a day.
(Reporting by Crispian Balmer)