Italy reports 69,278 Covid cases, 150 deaths

Italy reported 69,278 Covid-19 related cases on Wednesday, against 88,173 the day before, the health ministry said, while the number of deaths fell to 150 from 194.

Italy has registered 160,973 deaths linked to Covid-19 since its outbreak emerged in February 2020, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the eighth highest in the world. The country has reported 15 million cases to date.

Patients in hospital with Covid-19 – not including those in intensive care – stood at 10,164 on Wednesday, down from 10,246 a day earlier.

There were 51 new admissions to intensive care units, down from 57 on Tuesday. The total number of intensive care patients decreased to 466 from a previous 471.

Some 461,448 tests for Covid-19 were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 588,576, the health ministry said.