Italy sets new record for daily coronavirus deaths

Italy reported 627 new coronavirus-related deaths on Wednesday, up from 421 the previous day.

The figure set a new high in daily fatalities since January.

The country has registered more than 112,000 deaths linked to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic in February 2020, the second-highest toll in Europe after the UK.

The daily tally of new infections rose to 13,708 from 7,767 the previous day, bringing the number of cases to 3.7 million, according to the latest Health Ministry data.

Experts note that the number of deaths registered on Wednesday may be linked to unreported deaths that occurred during the Easter holidays and were added to Wednesday's calculations.

Italy is still scrambling to contain a third wave of contagion sparked by new variants of the virus.

The new government headed by Prime Minister Mario Draghi has pledged to speed up a national vaccination campaign, which has been lagging because of regional inefficiencies and delays in vaccines' supplies.

To date, vaccine doses administered are above 11.6 million, while Italians who have received both shots are about 3.5 million.

The government wants to accelerate the vaccination process, targeting 500,000 doses a day to reach herd immunity by the end of the summer.

Italy is set to remain in almost total lockdown until the end of April amid rising tensions among business owners and residents who were forced to stop activities for months.