Italy reports lowest virus death toll in over three weeks

Italy on Sunday reported its lowest coronavirus death toll in more than three weeks, confirming trends showing that the COVID-19 outbreak in Europe's worst-hit nation had peaked.

The 431 new deaths reported by the civil protection service were the lowest since March 19. Italy's death total now stands at 19,899, officially second behind the United States.

The number of people currently showing COVID-19 symptoms is still growing, officially rising to 102,253, but the number of people receiving emergency care is dropping, the data showed.

The number of people in non-critical hospital care is also down.

"The pressure on our hospitals continues to ease," civil protection service chief Angelo Borrelli told reporters.