ROME, AUG 6: Italy reported 24 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday against 27 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 6,599 from 7,230.

Italy has registered 128,187 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the eighth-highest in the world. The country has reported 4.4 million cases to date.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 – not including those in intensive care – stood at 2,449 on Friday, up from 2,409 a day earlier.

There were 32 new admissions to intensive care units, up from 25 on Thursday. The total number of intensive care patients increased to 277 from a previous 268.

Some 244,657 tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 212,227, the health ministry said.