Italy has the lowest coronavirus deaths in over three weeks

Italy on Sunday reported its lowest death toll in coronavirus in more than three weeks, confirming trends showing that the Covid-19 epidemic in the nation most affected by Europe had peaked.

The 431 new deaths reported by the Italian authorities have been the lowest since March 19.

The total number of deaths in Italy is now 19.899, officially second behind the United States.

The Italian civil protection authority told reporters that 1.984 more people were confirmed to be infected with coronavirus in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of current infections to 102.253.

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

"The pressure on our hospitals continues to decrease," said the head of the civil protection service Angelo Borrelli.

The infection curve has flattened over the past week, but some experts believe that the plateau of infections could continue for another 20-25 days before seeing a definitive drop in numbers.

As of Sunday 13 April, there have been 156.363 coronavirus cases in Italy.

The number of people who have recovered is 34.211.