Italy reports 51 coronavirus deaths on Friday, 13,686 new cases

Italy reported 51 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday against 71 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections fell slightly to 13,686 from 13,764.

Italy has registered 133,537 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 4.98 million cases to date.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 4,748 on Friday, up from 4,689 a day earlier.

There were 58 new admissions to intensive care units, up from 57 on Thursday. The total number of intensive care patients increased to 606 from a previous 588.

Some 557,180 tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 649,998, the health ministry said.