Italy reports 146 coronavirus deaths on Wednesday, 36,293 new cases

Italy reported 146 coronavirus-related deaths on Wednesday against 153 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 36,293 from 30,798.

Italy has registered 136,077 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 5.5 million cases to date.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 8,544 on Wednesday, up from 8,381 a day earlier.

There were 92 new admissions to intensive care units, down from 96 on Tuesday. The total number of intensive care patients fell to 1,010 from a previous 1,012.

Some 779,303 tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 851,865, the health ministry said.