Italy kept registering a decreasing number of COVID-19 new infections on Saturday, as a public health monitoring report showed no region in the country had a reproduction rate (Rt) higher than one as of late May.
Active coronavirus infections stood at 35,877 with a decrease of 1,099 cases against Friday, according to the fresh data by the country's Civil Protection Department.
Patients in intensive care units dropped to 293, the department highlighted in its bulletin, after a decrease of 23 patients compared to the previous day.
Another 5,002 patients are hospitalized with symptoms, down by 299, and the remaining 30,582 -- or 85 percent of all those actively infected -- are isolated at home with mild symptoms or no symptoms at all.
Some 72 new fatalities were registered on a daily basis, bringing the country's coronavirus death toll to 33,846, said the Civil Protection Department.
Some 1,297 new recoveries were also recorded, which brought to 165,078 the total number of people cured since the pandemic officially broke out in the northern regions on Feb. 24.
Overall, Italy registered 234,801 assessed cases as of Saturday, including new infections, fatalities, and recoveries.
HEALTH MINISTRY REPORT
In a report unveiled on Saturday, the Health Ministry said none of Italy's 20 regions had a reproduction rate (Rt) for the coronavirus disease above one on May 25-31.
That means that one infected person spread the virus to one or fewer people during that time.
The finding resulted from monitoring carried out by the ministry and the National Health Institute (ISS) on the so-called phase 2 of the emergency, which saw a gradual easing of restrictive measures during the lockdown starting from May 4.
The Rt in that period was determined on June 3, according to the report's authors.
It must be noted that -- considering the time elapsing between exposure to the pathogen and appearance of symptoms, and between symptoms and diagnosis -- many of the cases reported that week (May 25-31) have likely contracted the infection 2-3 weeks before, during the first phase of reopening between May 4 and May 18, the Health Ministry stated.
It further explained the overall picture of the coronavirus transmission and impact in Italy was favorable, with a general decrease in the number of cases and no more signs of overloading of the public health system.
The estimate of the reproduction rate (Rt)... calculated on June 3, 2020, shows average values below 1 in all regions and autonomous provinces, the ministry specified.
Yet, the report also confirmed signals of coronavirus transmission were still present in the country, with newly reported outbreaks describing an epidemiologically fluid situation in many Italian regions.
This requires strict compliance with the measures necessary to reduce the transmission risk, such as individual hygiene and social distancing, the ministry warned.
(CGTN)