ROME: Italy reported 329 coronavirus-related deaths on Monday against 237 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 7,925 from 11,252.

Some 142,419 tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the past day, against a previous 213,364, the health ministry said, reflecting the usual decline in testing at the weekend.

Italy has registered 88,845 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged last February, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the sixth-highest in the world. The country has reported 2.561 million cases to date.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 20,260 on Monday, up from 20,096 a day earlier.

There were 145 new admissions to intensive care units, up from 97 the day before.

The total number of intensive care patients stood at 2,252 against 2,215 on Sunday.

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.