Milan, Mar. 17, 2021, SPA -- Italy reported 431 coronavirus-related deaths on Wednesday against 502 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 23,059 from 20,396 the day before, Reuters cited the health ministry as saying. Some 369,084 tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 369,375, the health ministry said. Italy has registered 103,432 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the seventh-highest in the world. The country has reported 3.28 million cases to date. Patients in hospital with COVID-19, not including those in intensive care, stood at 26,517 Wednesday, up from 26,098 a day earlier. There were 324 new admissions to intensive care units, compared with 319 on Tuesday. The total number of intensive care patients increased to 3,317 from a previous 3,256. When Italy's second wave of the epidemic was accelerating quickly 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. --SPA 20:29 LOCAL TIME 17:29 GMT 0026 www.spa.gov.sa/w1526553