Italy reported 24 deaths from COVID-19 on Sunday, compared with 49 a day earlier, the Civil Protection Agency said, while the daily tally of new cases stood at 224 from 262 on Saturday.

The country's death toll since the outbreak came to light on Feb 21 now stands at 34,634, the agency said, the world's fourth-highest after the United States, Brazil and Britain.

The number of confirmed cases amounts to 238,499, the eighth-highest global tally.

The number of people registered as currently carrying the illness fell to 20,972 from 21,212 the day before.

People in intensive care totalled 148 on Sunday, down from 152 on Saturday. Of those originally infected, 182,893 were declared recovered against 182,453 a day earlier.

The agency said 3.042 million people in the country of 60 million had been tested for the virus, up from 3.017 million on Saturday.