The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on Feb. 21 rose to 17,669, the Civil Protection Agency said, the highest in the world. The number of confirmed cases climbed to 139,422, the third highest global tally behind that of the United States and Spain. There were 3,693 people in intensive care on Wednesday against 3,792 on Tuesday — a fifth consecutive daily decline, underscoring growing hopes that the illness is on the retreat thanks to a nationwide lockdown introduced on March 9. Of those originally infected, 26,491 were declared recovered against 24,392 a day earlier.
Italy's daily coronavirus death toll falls, but new cases accelerate.