Officials in Italy say the death toll from Covid-19 has risen by 604 to 17,127. The daily reported toll reached 969 on 27 March and has since levelled off.
The total of confirmed cases increased by 3,039 today to 135,586, the second successive daily decline, underscoring growing confidence that the illness is on the retreat thanks to a nationwide lockdown introduced on 9 March.
3,792 people are in intensive care. The figures show that new cases of the virus have fallen to a 25-day low. The Italian Prime Minister consulted leading scientists today about ways to safely end the month-long lockdown.
Giuseppe Conte's video conference with the government's scientific committee came one week before Italy's economically-crippling closure of most