Italy reports 246 coronavirus deaths on Monday, 13,114 new cases

MILAN, March 1 (Reuters) - Italy reported 246 coronavirus-related deaths on Monday against 192 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 13,114 from 17,455 the day before.

Some 170,633 tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 257,024 the health ministry said.

Italy has registered 97,945 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 2.94 million cases to date.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 19,112 on Monday, up from 18,638 a day earlier.

There were 171 new admissions to intensive care units, up from 131 on Sunday. The total number of intensive care patients increased to 2,289 from a previous 2,231.

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. (Reporting by Agnieszka Flak, editing by Sabina Suzzi)