ROME (Reuters) - Italy reported 298 coronavirus-related deaths on Sunday up from 261 the day before, the health ministry said. The daily tally of new infections was 8,913 down from 10,407 the day before, taking the total number of cases since Italy’s epidemic began to 2,047,696. Italy on Thursday became the eighth country in the world to exceed 2 million officially recorded cases. The number of swab tests carried out in the past day was 59,879, down from 81,285 the previous day, the health ministry said. Italy has reported 71,925 deaths since its outbreak came to light on Feb. 21, the highest toll in Europe and the fifth highest in the world. Patients in hospital with COVID-19 stood at 23,571, up 259 from the day before. The number of intensive care patients was stable at 2,580. When Italy’s second wave of the epidemic was accelerating fast in the first half of November, hospital admissions were rising by about 1,000 per day, while intensive care occupancy was increasing by about 100 per day.