MILAN - Italy reported 42 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday, up from 40 the previous day, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 2,732 from 2,668.

Italy has registered 131,503 deaths linked to COVID-19 since the outbreak in February last year. It has the second highest toll in Europe behind Britain and the ninth highest in the world. The country has reported 4.71 million cases to date.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 2,445 on Friday, down from 2,479 a day earlier.

There were 20 new admissions to intensive care units, decreasing from 22 on Thursday. The total number of patients in intensive care with COVID-19 fell to 357 from a previous 359.

Some 506,043 tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 324,614, the health ministry said.

 

(Reporting by Maria Pia Quaglia, editing by Gianluca Semeraro) ((mariapia.quaglia@tr.com; +39 06 80307737;))