CASES DROP EVEN THOUGH RECORD NUMBER TESTED

Italy reported a slight drop in new coronavirus cases on Friday even as a record number of people were tested, though experts warn the virus is not yet in check.

There were 3,493 new cases of the disease, compared with 3,786 a day earlier, civil protection officials said at their daily briefing in Rome. Confirmed cases in the country now total 172,434.

Italy registered 575 deaths linked to the virus, compared with 525 the day before. That brings the total number of fatalities to 22,745. Individuals tested in the last 24 hours reached 65,705 and the number of recovered patients hit a record as well.

Italy’s coronavirus cases have reached an “artificial” peak as a result of lockdown measures, Giovanni Rezza, pictured, head of the infectious diseases department at Rome’s national health institute, said Friday. “We see that there is a decreasing trend in the number of new cases, but the virus is not disappearing,” he said.