Italy is seeing more relief from the coronavirus outbreak in its jammed intensive care units, with 74 fewer beds in use over the past day nationwide.
Civil protection chief Angelo Borrelli said the dip in ICU saturation was "important news because it allows our hospitals to breathe." Intensive care wards in Lombardy, the epicenter of the European outbreak, have been full for weeks but on Saturday there were 56 fewer beds in use than the day before.
Overall, new infections continued to slow their once-exponential pace, with 4,805 new cases registered Saturday that brought Italy's official count to 124,632. The death toll continued to mount, with 681 new victims bringing the world's highest toll to 15,362.
Italian officials have urged Italians to continue rigorously observing the west's first and most comprehensive national shutdown after some Italians were seen out walking and shopping in great numbers in various cities.
Officials say the emergency is still very much under way, and that the infection curve remains at a plateau, not yet beginning its hoped-for decline.
