Italy's novel coronavirus death toll climbs by 578 to 21,645

Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy rose by 578 on Wednesday, down from 602 the day before, while the number of new cases slowed to 2,667 from a previous 2,972, continuing the recent downward trend.

The number of new cases was the lowest since March 13 but the daily tally of deaths remains stubbornly high.

It has hovered between 525 and 636 for the last 11 days, except for a steep drop to 431 on Easter Sunday, which was immediately reversed the following day.

The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on Feb. 21 rose to 21,645 the Civil Protection Agency said, the second highest in the world after that of the United States.

The number of officially confirmed cases climbed to 165,155, the third highest global tally behind those of the United States and Spain.

There were 3,079 people in intensive care on Wednesday against 3,186 on Tuesday -- a 12th consecutive daily decline.

Of those originally infected, 38,092 were declared recovered against 37,130 a day earlier.

The epicenter of the Italian outbreak remains the northern Lombardy region, which now counts 11,377 victims, more than half of the total.

The government is struggling on how to plan the recovery phase and protect Italy's fragile economic system, as the country faces its worst recession since World War II.

After a few weeks of unity amid the emergency, the first cracks emerged within the ruling coalition, formed by the anti-establishment Five-Star Movement and the center-left Democratic Party (PD). The two parties are divided over the use of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) -- the European Union's bailout fund -- to face the economic fallout from the pandemic.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte -- who is aligned with the Five Stars -- insists saying that the ESM is an inadequate response to the current emergency.

He is instead pushing for the issuance of the so-called eurobonds -- a tool based on mutual debt -- as part of a European support package that should shield the weaker economies. The eurobonds, however, are strongly opposed by some EU partners, including Germany and the Nordic countries.

On the opposite side, the PD stresses that the new package including the ESM funds doesn't represent a threat to Italy's fiscal autonomy, as it doesn't impose any other budgetary condition than the use of the money for health purposes.

Conte will have to find a compromise between the two battling sides, as he has to expose Italy's position during a video conference with the other European leaders on April 23.