MILAN: Italy reported another fresh record daily tally of COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, with new cases hitting 98,030 against 78,313 a day earlier, the health ministry said.

The number of coronavirus-related deaths fell to 148 from 202 on Tuesday.

Italy has registered 137,091 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the ninth highest in the world. The country has reported 5,85 million cases to date.

Italy imposes new Covid rules on unvaccinated

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 10,578 on Wednesday, up from 10,089 a day earlier.

There were 126 new admissions to intensive care units, up from 119 on Tuesday.

The total number of intensive care patients increased to 1,185 from a previous 1,145.

Some 1.03 million tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the past day, in line with Tuesday's record, the health ministry said.