Italy reports a slight drop in coronavirus deaths and cases

The coronavirus infection rate in Italy slowed for the fourth consecutive day on Wednesday, and the total number of deaths also declined, although it remained high at 683.

This brought the total number of deceased to 7.503, according to the latest data from the Department of Civil Protection in Italy.

5.210 new cases were confirmed, slightly less than Tuesday's 5.249.

The total number of cases detected in Italy since the beginning of the epidemic has exceeded 74.000

Italy reported fewer cases on Wednesday than the United States (5.797) or Spain (5.552) according to the latest data.

About 9000 people in Italy who had been infected with the virus have now recovered the figures shown.

33 of the deceased are doctors and a total of 5.000 Italian health workers have been infected, according to data from the Italian Institute of Higher Health.

Almost 4.500 of the deaths occurred in the single region of Lombardy most affected, and there were more than 1.000 in Emilia-Romagna.

Most infections also occurred in Lombardy, where the first cases of community transmission were recorded at the end of February and in other northern regions

The world is closely watching evidence that the number of cases and deaths in Italy is decreasing and that the national quarantine measures adopted just over two weeks ago have worked as hoped.

There was high hope after the death toll dropped for two consecutive days on Sunday and Monday. But Tuesday's daily balance was the second highest recorded in Italy since the beginning of the crisis.

However, as the number of cases continues to rise daily, it has now been slowing down for four days in a row.

However, few scientists expect that Italy's numbers - if they are really falling - will follow a steady downward line.

Experts have predicted that the number of cases will peak in Italy at some point from March 23 onwards - perhaps in early April - although many point out that regional variations and other factors indicate that it is very difficult to predict it.

Civil protection chief Angelo Borrelli, who usually delivers updates every day at 18:00, was not present to give numbers on Wednesday, reportedly reportedly hospitalized with a fever.

Borrelli is awaiting the result of a second coronavirus buffer test, after having had a negative result a few days ago, according to Italian media.