Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy climbed by 274 on Thursday, against 369 the day before, the Civil Protection Agency said, while the daily tally of new infections declined marginally to 1,401 from 1,444 on Wednesday. The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on Feb. 21 now stands at 29,958, the agency said, the third highest in the world after the United States and Britain. The number of confirmed cases amounts to 215,858, the third highest global tally behind the United States and Spain. People registered as currently carrying the illness in Italy fell to 89,624 from 91,528 the day before. There were 1,311 people in intensive care on Thursday, down slightly from 1,333 on Wednesday and maintaining a long-running decline. Of those originally infected, 96,276 were declared recovered against 93,245 a day earlier. The agency said 1.564 million people had been tested for the virus against 1.550 million the day before, out of a population of around 60 million
