The coronavirus death toll in Italy has jumped by 602 in a day as the number of fatalities passed 6,000.
The head of the Civil Protection Agency announced the 11 per cent increase on Monday, bringing Italy's virus death toll to 6,078.
Although hundreds more deaths were reported, it was the smallest rise since Thursday, suggesting a downward trend.
On Sunday, 651 people died. That followed 793 on Saturday and 627 on Friday.
The total number of confirmed cases in Italy rose to 63,927 on Monday from a previous 59,138, an increase of 8 per cent.
This was the lowest rise in percentage terms since the virus came to light on February 21.
Of those originally infected nationwide, 7,432 had fully recovered on Monday compared to 7,024 the day before.
There were 3,204 people in intensive care against a previous 3,009.
The hardest-hit northern region of Lombardy remained in a critical situation, with a total of 3,776 deaths and 28,761 cases.
That compared with 3,456 deaths and 27,206 cases reported up to Sunday.
