MILAN: Italy reported 469 coronavirus-related deaths on Wednesday against 476 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 16,168 from 13,447.

Italy has registered 115,557 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the seventh-highest in the world. The country has reported 3.81 million cases to date.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 26,369 on Wednesday, down from 26,952 a day earlier.

There were 216 new admissions to intensive care units, down from 242 on Tuesday. The total number of intensive care patients decreased slightly to 3,490 from a previous 3,526.

Some 334,766 tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 304,990, the health ministry said.