ROME - Italy reported 415 coronavirus-related deaths on Monday against 352 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections decreased to 10,872 from 15,104, reflecting the customary decline in testing over the weekend.

There were 87,889 swab tests carried out in the past day, down from a previous 137,420, the ministry said.

The first Western country hit by the virus, Italy has seen 69,214 COVID-19 fatalities since its outbreak emerged in February, the highest toll in Europe and the fifth-highest in the world. It has also registered some 1.96 million cases to date.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 stood at 25,145 on Monday, down by 13 from the day before. There were 161 new admissions to intensive care units, compared with 121 on Sunday.

The number of intensive care patients decreased by 12 to 2,731, reflecting those who died or were discharged after recovery.

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

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