Italy reports lowest daily tally of covid-19 fatalities since mid-October as pressure on hospitals continues to drop.

Italy registered 44 coronavirus-related deaths on Sunday 30 May, down from 83 the day before, the health ministry announced.

The daily tally was the lowest figure since 14 October, when 43 fatalities were recorded, according to news agency ANSA.

The number of people with an active coronavirus infection fell by 3,670 to 236,296, while the number of new covid infections dropped to 2,949 from 3,351.

• Italy's covid-19 contagion rate continues to fall

Italy continues to make progress with its coronavirus vaccination programme, administering 34.2 million vaccine doses, with 11.8 million people - almost 20 per cent of the population - fully vaccinated, the health ministry said.

The news comes as three Italian regions - Friuli Venezia Giulia, Molise and Sardinia - move into the lowest-risk 'white zone' category under Italy's colour-coded system of coronavirus restrictions, with more regions set to follow in the coming weeks.

• Italy starts to move regions into covid 'white zones'

The health ministry also extended an entry ban for people travelling from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka - until 21 June - as a precaution against the Indian variant of the coronavirus.

The travel ban does not apply to Italian citizens.

• Italy sees sharp fall in covid-19 hospital cases, report

On Friday Italy's national health institute (ISS) announced that the national 'R' reproduction number had fallen to 0.72 from 0.78 the week before, according to the latest covid-19 data.

The incidence rate in Italy dropped to 47 coronavirus cases for every 100,000 inhabitants, compared to 66 the previous week.

For official information relating to the covid-19 situation in Italy - in English - see the health ministry website.

Photo: Via del Corso Rome. Credit: Angelo Cordeschi / Shutterstock.com.