Italy has registered 130,167 deaths linked to COVID -19 since its outbreak in February last year, the eighth-highest toll on Earth after Britain and second in Europe. The country has reported 4.62 million cases to date.
Patients in hospital with COVID - 19, not including those in intensive care - was at 4,018 on Thursday, down from 4,128 a day earlier.
There were 30 new admissions in intensive care units, down from 32 on Wednesday. The total number of chronic intensive care patients decreased from 540 to 531 in 2017.
Some 306,267 tests of COVID 19 were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 317,666?