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Data on Italy's coronavirus outbreak continued to trend in the right direction on Sunday, with new infections, intensive care patients, and COVID-19 deaths all lower despite the lifting of a wide array of restrictions related to the national lockdown.
Last week, Italy began allowing free movement between regions and the unrestricted arrival of travelers from most of the rest of Europe. Most shops, restaurants, and bars are now reopened, albeit with strict restrictions on the use of masks and disinfectants, as well as on social distancing.
But Italy's National Statistics Institute ISTAT also released data showing how severe the coronavirus outbreak was at its peak in March and April. Compared to the recent norms for those months, Italy's overall mortality rate was 48.6 and 33.6 percent higher in March and April respectively, the data found.
Recent data from the Ministry of Health showed a more upbeat picture.
The number of new infections from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, reported on Sunday was 197, down from 270 a day earlier. Both figures were positive news after the number of new infections jumped to 518 on Friday -- the first day above 500 since May 29 -- but that now appears to be an outlier.
As of Sunday, there were 287 patients in intensive care units (ICUs) for COVID-19, six fewer than the day before, and the 13th consecutive day and 22nd time in 23 days the number fell.
A total of 53 people died of COVID-19 in the previous 24 hours, ministry statistics showed. That is the second-lowest official death rate since March 7, with the only time the figure was lower -- 50 deaths two weeks earlier, on May 24 -- coming when the hard-hit region of Lombardy did not report its death totals.
On Sunday, Lombardy reported 21 new deaths, bringing its total to 16,270, or nearly half of the 33,899 COVID-19 deaths recorded nationally.
A total of six Italian regions -- Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria, Friuli, Molise, and Sardinia -- recorded no new infections in the last 24 hours, the ministry said. That is equal to the highest number of regions reporting zero coronavirus growth since such at least late March.
Another five regions, including Veneto, at one time Italy's second-hardest-hit region, recorded a single new case between Saturday and Sunday, according to the ministry.
Meanwhile, those hospitalized with symptoms fell by 138 to 4,864 and those recovering at home totaled 30,111, down by 471. Combined, there were 35,262 active COVID-19 cases in Italy, far below peak levels of more than 100,000 maintained between April 11 and May 3.
An additional 759 people recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total to 165,837, or a little more than 70 percent of the nearly 235,000 coronavirus cases reported in Italy since the outbreak began in February.