Italy reports 310 coronavirus deaths on Saturday, 15,370 new cases

Outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Milan

ROME (Reuters) - Italy reported 310 coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday against 429 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections edged down to 15,370 from 15,943.

Italy has registered 116,676 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the seventh-highest in the world. The country has reported 3.857 million cases to date.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 24,100 on Saturday, down from 24,743 a day earlier.

There were 163 new admissions to intensive care units, down from 199 on Friday. The total number of intensive care patients declined to 3,340 from a previous 3,366.

Some 331,734 tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 327,704, the health ministry said.

(Reporting by Gavin Jones)