MILAN: Italy reported 218 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday against 164 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 5,218 from 5,741.

Italy has registered 125,028 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 4.18 million cases to date.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 9,925 on Friday, down from 10,383 a day earlier.

There were 51 new admissions to intensive care units, down from 69 on Thursday. The total number of intensive care patients fell to 1,469 from a previous 1,544.

Some 269,744 tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 251,037, the health ministry said.