According to ISS, 371 deaths occurred in this period, with a 33% increase compared to 279 patients who died between December 21 and 27, 2023.

In the last week, as many as 242,518 tests were conducted and the positivity rate was 16.0 percentage points, 2.1 points lower than in the previous seven days.

The hospitalization rating was 10.1%, with 6,320 hospitalized patients, a lower figure than at the end of December 2023, when percentage reached 11%.

As to ICUs, hospitalizations decreased in 2.8%, with 246 in-patients, a percentage lower than the 3.2% reported previously.

Francesco Vaia, Director-General of Health Prevention at the Health Ministry, said the epidemiological progress “is being consolidated with an absolutely low impact on hospital admissions, an indicator that is certainly more reliable and significant nowadays”.

At present, Italy reports 218,284 coronavirus-infected people, 211,718 of them are at-home screening, while 6,320 are being hospitalized and 246 in ICUs.

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