Italy registered 630 coronavirus linked deaths on Monday, rising from 562 the day before and taking the official toll since the genesis of its outbreak back in February to 50,453, according to health ministry data.

Italy, the first Western country to be hit by the pandemic, becomes the sixth nation in the world to surpass 50,000 deaths, and the second in Europe after Britain. 

The health ministry also reported 22,930 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, down from 28,337 the day before, with the fall reflecting the usual drop in the number of swabs conducted on Sundays.

There were 148,945 coronavirus tests carried out in the past day, the ministry said, against a previous 188,747. Italy has registered a total of 1.432 million coronavirus cases, the eighth highest tally in the world.

While Italy's daily death tolls have been the highest in Europe over recent days, the increase in hospital admissions and intensive care occupancy has slowed. The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 stood at 34,697 on Monday, a rise of 418 from the day before. That compared with a daily increase of 216 on Sunday.

(With input from agencies)