Italy reports 202 coronavirus deaths on Tuesday, 78,313 new cases

People wearing face masks walk in the street, as the region of Lazio makes face masks mandatory outdoors in all areas, as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases rise and Christmas nears, in Rome, Italy

Italy reported 202 coronavirus-related deaths on Tuesday against 142 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 78,313 from 30,810, hitting a fresh record in terms of new cases since the start of the pandemic.

Italy has registered 136,955 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 5.76 million cases to date.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 10,089 on Tuesday, up from 9,723 a day earlier.

There were 119 new admissions to intensive care units, up from 100 on Monday. The total number of intensive care patients increased to 1,145 from a previous 1,126.

Some 1.03 million tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 343,968, the health ministry said.

Reporting by Agnieszka Flak, editing by Gianluca Semeraro

SOURCE: REUTERS