Italy reports 33 coronavirus deaths on Sunday, 2,968 new cases

FILE PHOTO: A health worker administers the third dose of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine to Ivano Arcangeli, a patient deemed to be 'fragile', as vaccinations jump in Italy after the government made inoculation mandatory for all workers, in Rome, Italy, September 21, 2021. REUTERS/Yara Nardi/File Photo

Italy reported 33 coronavirus-related deaths on Sunday against 25 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 2,968 from 3,312.

Italy has registered 131,031 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the ninth-highest in the world. The country has reported 4.68 million cases to date.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 2,991 on Sunday, down from 3,057 a day earlier.

There were 21 new admissions to intensive care units, down from 27 on Saturday. The total number of intensive care patients fell to 431 from a previous 432.

Some 285,960 tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 355,896, the health ministry said.

(Reporting by Agnieszka Flak)