MILAN: Italy reported 484 coronavirus-related deaths on Sunday after surpassing Britain the previous day as the European country with the worst toll of fatalities.

Sunday's tally was down from 649 deaths reported on Saturday. There were 152,697 swabs carried out in the past 24 hours, well below a previous 196,439, the health ministry added.

Italy has suffered 64,520 deaths linked to COVID-19 since the outbreak first started in February, making it the first Western country to face the virus emergency.

That compares with 64,170 victims in the United Kingdom, where 144 people were reported dead on Sunday within 28 days of a positive test.

Italy's daily tally of new infections fell to 17,938 on Sunday from 19,903 the previous day.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 stood at 27,735 on Sunday, 331 fewer than a day earlier.

At the height of Italy's second wave of the epidemic in the first half of November, hospital admissions were rising by around 1,000 per day, while intensive care occupancy rose by about 100 per day.

There were 152 new admissions to intensive care units on Sunday, compared with 195 on Saturday. However, the number of intensive care patients decreased by 41 to 3,158, reflecting those who died or were discharged after recovery.