Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Reuters
Reuters
Health

Italy reports 298 coronavirus deaths on Sunday - health ministry

Dr. Massimo Vajani 67, receives the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine against the coronavirus disease at Civico hospital, where the country's first patient was diagnosed, in Codogno, Italy, December 27, 2020. REUTERS/Flavio Lo Scalzo/Pool

Italy reported 298 coronavirus-related deaths on Sunday up from 261 the day before, the health ministry said.

The daily tally of new infections was 8,913 down from 10,407 the day before, taking the total number of cases since Italy's epidemic began to 2,047,696.

Italy on Thursday became the eighth country in the world to exceed 2 million officially recorded cases.

The number of swab tests carried out in the past day was 59,879, down from 81,285 the previous day, the health ministry said.

Italy has reported 71,925 deaths since its outbreak came to light on Feb. 21, the highest toll in Europe and the fifth highest in the world.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 stood at 23,571, up 259 from the day before. The number of intensive care patients was stable at 2,580.

When Italy's second wave of the epidemic was accelerating fast 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 Giselda Vagnoni; Editing by David Clarke)

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.