Italy reported 846 coronavirus-related deaths on Tuesday against 491 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 14,844 from 12,030.
There were 162,880 swabs carried out in the past day, up from a previous 103,584, the ministry said.
The first Western country hit by the virus, Italy has seen 65,857 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 1.871 million cases to date.
Patients in hospital with COVID-19 stood at 27,342 on Tuesday, down by 423 from the day before.
There were 199 new admissions to intensive care units, compared with 138 on Monday.
The number of intensive care patients decreased by 92 to 3,003, 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 Gavin Jones)
