Another 601 people have died from the COVID-19 virus for last 24 hours, Italy’s Civil Protection department announced, down from 651 in the previous 24 hours and a record 793 the day before that.

The number of new infections also rose at a slower rate: by 3 780 on Monday compared to 3 957 on Sunday.

Another 480 people were confirmed to have recovered, bringing the total to 7 432.

That leaves Italy with 50 418 active cases of the new coronavirus, including 20 692 patients in hospital and 3 204 in intensive care. The remaining 26 522 people infected are self-isolating at home.

In total Italy has now confirmed 63 927 cases of the virus since the outbreak began, 6 077 of them fatal.