Italy reports record 50,599 coronavirus cases on Friday, 141 deaths

People wear protective masks as they walk down Via del Corso, Rome’s main shopping street, as the city makes masks mandatory outdoors in busy areas amid a rise in coronavirus cases, ahead of Christmas, in Rome, Italy, December 4, 2021. REUTERS/Remo Casilli

ROME (Reuters) – Italy reported a second successive record daily tally of COVID-19 cases on Friday, with new cases hitting 50,599 against 44,595 a day earlier, the health ministry said.

The number of coronavirus-related deaths fell to 141 from 168 on Thursday.

Italy has registered 136,386 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the ninth-highest in the world. The country has reported 5.57 million cases to date.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 — not including those in intensive care — stood at 8,812 on Friday, up from 8,722 a day earlier.

There were 102 new admissions to intensive care units, against 93 on Thursday. The total number of intensive care patients increased to 1,038 from a previous 1,023.

Some 929,775 tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 901,450, the health ministry said.

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