Italy registers 175,925 coronavirus cases, death toll at 23,227

The coronavirus pandemic has claimed over 23,000 lives in locked-down Italy, bringing the total number of infections, fatalities and recoveries so far to 175,925, according to the latest data released by the country's Civil Protection Department on Saturday.

The death toll in the past 24 hours was 482, bringing the total to 23,227 since the pandemic first broke out in the northern Lombardy region on February 21, Xinhua reported.

Of those infected, some 2,733 patients are in intensive care, down by 79 compared to the previous day; another 25,007 are hospitalized in normal wards, down by 779; and 80,031 (or 74 per cent) are isolated at home because of asymptomatic or light symptoms.

The lockdown that went into effect on March 10 will continue until May 3, to be followed by a so-called Phase Two involving "the gradual resumption of social, economic and productive activities," the government has explained.