ROME (Reuters) – Italy reported 564 COVID-related deaths on Sunday, down from 662 a day earlier and taking the official toll since the outbreak began in February above 60,000, the health ministry said.
The health ministry also reported 18,887 new infections over the past 24 hours, down from 21,052 the day before.
Italy, the first Western country to be hit by the epidemic, becomes the sixth nation in the world to surpass 60,000 deaths, and the second in Europe after Britain.
It has registered 60,078 deaths and 1.728 million infections to date.
There were 163,550 swabs carried out in the past day, down from a previous 194,984, the ministry said.
Patients in hospital with COVID-19 stood at 30,391 on Sunday, up 233 from the day before.
There were 150 new admissions to intensive care units, while the number of intensive care patients decreased by 63 to 3,454, 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 Angelo Amante; Editing by Giles Elgood)
