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LATEST: Infections continue to slow as Italy records 604 more coronavirus deaths

The Local Italy
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LATEST: Infections continue to slow as Italy records 604 more coronavirus deaths
A doctor treats coronavirus patients in hospital in Turin, northern Italy. Photo: AFP

Italy's coronavirus figures, while still worryingly high, continued to show a steady downward trend on Tuesday according to the latest offical data.

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With a total of 3.039 new cases confirmed on Tuesday, the number of infections continued to slow in Italy.

ANALYSIS: How and when will Italy's lockdown end?

The daily infection rate reached a new low of just 2.3 percent, Italy's Department for Civil Protection stated.

The number of patients in intensive care also decreased by 106 to 3.792 on Tuesday, and 1.555 patients have recovered from the virus in 24 hours, with recoveries rising to a total of over 24,000.

There were 604 new fatalities reported.

In total, 17,127 lives have now been lost to the virus in Italy, and there have been 135.586 cases in total since the outbrk began, according to official figures.

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The highest daily reported death toll was 969 on March 27.

Health officials warned that the outbreak appears to have peaked in some areas only because of the various closures and bans, which they insist must remain in place - perhaps until a vaccine is developed or some reliable tests can show who has immunity against the new disease.

"We are far from the end," the scientific committee's head Domenico Arcuri told reporters on Tuesday ahead of government talks on the quarantine measures.

"The number of men and women who will die from the virus will continue to rise."

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte consulted the committee of top scientists on Tuesday about ways to safely end the lockdown, which has now been in place for almost a month.

 
94 doctors have now died from coronavirus in Italy, and 26 nurses. 12,681 health workers in total have contracted the virus, according to FNOMCEO, an Italian doctors' association.

Photo: AFP

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