MILAN (Reuters) – The daily toll from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy fell to 153 on Saturday, its lowest since March 9, against 242 the day before, the Civil Protection Agency said, while the daily tally of new cases increased to 875 from 789 on Friday.

The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on Feb. 21 now stands at 31,763 the agency said, the third highest in the world after those of the United States and Britain.

The number of confirmed cases amounts to 224,760, the fifth highest global tally behind those of the United States, Spain, Britain and Russia.

People registered as currently carrying the illness fell to 70,187 from 72,070 the day before.

There were 775 people in intensive care on Saturday, down from 808 on Friday, maintaining a long-running decline. Of those originally infected, 122,810 were declared recovered against 120,205 a day earlier.

The agency said a total of 1.900 million people had been tested for the virus as of Saturday, against 1.859 million on Friday, out of a population of around 60 million.

(This story was refiled to make clear timing of data in last paragraph)

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