Italy reported 785 coronavirus-related deaths on Tuesday, up from 672 on Monday, and 19,350 new infections, compared with 16,377 the day before, the health ministry said. The first Western country hit by the virus, Italy has seen 56,361 COVID-19 fatalities since its outbreak emerged in February, the second highest toll in Europe after Britain's. It has also registered 1.62 million cases to date. There were 182,100 swabs carried out in the past day, down from a previous 130,524. The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 stood at 32,811 on Tuesday, down 376 on the day before. The number in intensive care decreased by 81 and now stands at 3,663. When Italy's second wave of the epidemic was accelerating fast in the first half of November, hospital admissions were rising by around 1,000 per day, while intensive care occupancy was increasing by about 100 per day.