Italy registers lowest daily COVID-19 deaths

Italy has registered its lowest day-to-day increase in deaths of those infected with COVID-19 since the country was in its first week of lockdown in mid-March.

The Health Ministry released new figures, including 260 deaths, for the 24-hour period ending Sunday. That daily grim statistic was last lower on March 14, when 175 deaths were registered.

Premier Giuseppe Conte says on Facebook that later Sunday he will address the nation, eager to learn which restrictions will be eased in Italy's lockdown, which expires May 3.

Overall, Italy has registered 26,644 deaths of those with known coronavirus infections.

But the toll could be considerably higher, since many persons who died in their homes or in care residences for the elderly in recent weeks didn't receive COVID-19 tests.

By late March, when the outbreak was raging, most devastatingly in the north, Italy's day-to-day tally of new deaths had soared to nearly 1,000. Italy now has totaled 197,675 known cases, after 2,324 new cases were registered on Sunday.