Italy reported 60,415 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, down from 74,024 the day before, the health ministry said, while the number of deaths related to the disease rose to 93 from 85.
Italy has registered 157,785 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak in February 2020, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the eighth highest in the world.
So far, 13.86 million cases have been reported in the country. Patients in hospital with COVID-19 – not involved in intensive care – stood at 8,430 on Sunday, up from 8,319 the day before.
There were 29 new admissions to intensive care units, down from 56 on Saturday. Patients with intensive care patients were 467 versus 471 previously.
The health ministry said that a total of 370,466 tests for COVID-19 were carried out over the past day, compared with 478,051 a day earlier.
As of March 20, 2022, about 48.4 million people in Italy have completed the routine vaccination cycle against COVID-19, which is 89.6 percent of the total population over the age of 12.
In the age group of 80 years and above, which is most vulnerable to the virus, the figure reached 95.3 percent. A vaccine for children under the age of 12 became available only in December 2021.
In order to build up better protection against the virus over time, Italian authorities began delivering a third vaccine dose during the autumn of 2021. So far, about seven in 10 Italians have received a booster shot.
