New COVID-19 cases and deaths down says health ministry

(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 17 - Italy registered 23,730 new COVID-19 cases in the March 10-16 period, down 1.1% on the 23,988 recorded the previous week, the health ministry said on Friday.
    It said there were 212 COVID-linked deaths in this period, a fall of 1.9% on the 216 registered the previous week.
    The ministry said 452,747 COVID tests had been done in Italy over the last week, with a positivity rate of 5.2%, up 0.2 of a point on 5% the previous week. Italy's COVID-19 incidence for the March 6-12 period was 38 cases for every 100,000 inhabitants, down from 41 the previous week, the weekly coronavirus monitoring report of the health ministry and the Higher Health Institute (ISS) said on Friday.
    The report said the Rt transmission number had dropped from 0.97 to 0.94.
    An Rt above 1 indicates that the virus is in a phase of expansion.
    It said the proportion of Italy's intensive-care beds occupied by COVID patients was steady at 1%.
    The report said 4.3% of ordinary-ward hospital beds were taken up by coronavirus sufferers on March 16, down from 4.7% on March 9. (ANSA).