The health ministry in Italy said on Saturday that the country recorded 171,263 COVID-19 related cases, against 179,106 the day before, while the number of one-day deaths fell to 333 from 373.

The European country has registered 143,296 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February 2020, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the ninth highest in the world. The country has reported 9.8 million cases to date.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 19,442 on Saturday, down from 19,485 a day earlier.

There were 121 new admissions to intensive care units, down from 148 on Friday. The total number of intensive care patients decreased to 1,676 from a previous 1,707.

Some 1.04 million tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 1.12 million, the health ministry said.

(With input from agencies)