Member of the medical staff in protective suit treats a patient suffering from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in an intensive care unit at the San Raffaele hospital in Milan, Italy, March 27, 2020. REUTERS/Flavio Lo Scalzo/

Italy has registered 160,748 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February 2020, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the eighth highest in the world.

Some 352,265 tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the past day, well below the previous day's 438,449, the health ministry said.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 - excluding those in intensive care - edged up to 10,038 on Sunday, from 10,023 a day earlier.

There were 39 new admissions to intensive care units, versus 42 on Saturday. The total number of intensive care patients rose fractionally to 465 from 462.