Italy reports 21 coronavirus deaths on Thursday, 882 new cases

Italy has registered 127.587 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the eight-highest in the world. The country has reported 4.26 million cases to date.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 1,532 on Thursday, down from 1,593 a day earlier. There were 7 new admissions to intensive care units, up from 4 on Wednesday. The total number of intensive care patients fell to 229 from a previous 247. Some 188,474 tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 185,016, the health ministry said.