ROME: Italy reported 171 coronavirus-related deaths on Thursday against 121 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 4,147 from 3,937.

Italy has registered 125,793 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 4.2 million cases to date.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 7,707 on Thursday, decreasing from 8,118 a day earlier.

There were 38 new admissions to intensive care units, edging down from 39 on Wednesday. The total number of intensive care patients fell to 1,206 from a previous 1,278.

Some 243,967 tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 260,962, the health ministry said.