Italy reports 541 new coronavirus deaths, 10,593 cases

Italy reported 541 coronavirus-related deaths on Tuesday, up from 420 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 10,593 from 8,561.

Some 257,034 tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the past day, against a previous 143,116, the health ministry said.

Italy has now registered 86,422 deaths linked to COVID-19 since last February, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the sixth-highest in the world. The country has reported 2.486 million cases.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 21,355 on Tuesday, compared with 21,424 a day earlier.

There were 162 new admissions to intensive care units, against 150 the day before. The total number of intensive care patients stood at 2,372 down from 2,421 on Monday.

When Italy's second wave of the epidemic was accelerating quickly in the first half of November, hospital admissions were rising by about 1,000 per day, while intensive care occupancy was increasing by about 100 per day.