Italy's daily coronavirus death toll rises to 636, but new cases fall sharply

Italy's daily coronavirus death toll shot up to 636 on Monday, just one day after dropping to its lowest level in over two weeks, the civil protection service said. The number of fatalities had fallen to 525 on Sunday, the lowest since March 19. Italy's total number of deaths officially attributed to COVID-19 rose to 16,523, more than in any other country.

Reuters WORLD

Published April 06,2020

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ITALYS DAILY CORONAVIRUS DEATH TOLL RISES TO 636, BUT NEW CASES FALL SHARPLY

Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy rose by 636 on Monday, more than 100 higher than the previous daily tally of 525, the Civil Protection Agency said, but the number of new cases fell sharply.

The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on Feb. 21 came to 16,523, the highest in the world.

The total number of confirmed cases increased by 3,599 to 132,547, the lowest daily rise since March 17, underscoring hopes that the illness might be on the retreat thanks to a nationwide lockdown introduced on March 9.

Before Monday, daily increases since March 17 had all been in a range of 4,050-6,557.

Of those originally infected, 22,837 were declared recovered on Monday against 21,815 a day earlier. There were 3,898 people in intensive care, down 79 on Sunday -- a third successive daily decline.