Italy registers record low COVID-19 deaths

Clear water is seen in the canals due to less tourists, motorboats and pollution, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, ahead of Earth Day, in Venice.Reuters

Italy registered a record low of six COVID-19 fatalities over the past 24 hours, national health authorities said.

The country had not seen such a limited daily death figure since February 24 -- in the very first phase of the pandemic at national level—when it had registered five fatalities within a total of 219 cases assessed, reports Xinhua news agency.

With Monday’s daily increase, the country’s death toll reached 34,744

Active infections dropped to 16,496 cases, down by 185 compared to Sunday, according to the Health Ministry.

The regions with the highest concentration of active infections were northern Lombardy (10,823) and Piedmont (1,490), and central Emilia Romagna (1,032).

Those with the lowest level of active cases were: northwest Aosta Valley (3), southern Basilicata (3), central Umbria (9), the Sardinia Island (14), and southern Calabria (26).

Of all those active infections, only 96 patients are currently in intensive care (down by 2 from Sunday) and 1,120 hospitalized with symptoms (down by 40).

The remaining 15,280 were isolated at home because they are asymptomatic or with mild symptoms.

The Health Ministry also stated 305 more recoveries in the same 24 hours, which took the total to 189,196 since the pandemic officially broke out in the northern regions of the country on 21 February.

As of Tuesday morning, the overall number of COVID-19 cases in Italy stood at 240,436. -Collected from "Prothom Alo"