Italy's COVID-19 Rt reproduction number has fallen to 0.92, down from 0.98 last week, sources said Friday ahead of the publication of the weekly coronavirus monitoring report of the health ministry and the Higher Health Institute (ISS).
The nationwide incidence has fallen to 185 cases for every 100,000 inhabitants, down from 232 last week, the sources said.
A draft of the weekly report said that eight regions/autonomous provinces have a Rt over 1.
A Rt number of over 1 indicates that the virus is in expansion.
The draft of the report said there had been a decrease in the general risk level.
But it also said that risk level remained high in four regions - Liguria, Puglia, Tuscany and Valle d'Aosta.
It said 15 regions/autonomous provinces had a moderate risk level while the risk level was low in Veneto and the autonomous province of Bolzano.
The report said the nation's health system was still under stress.
It said that in 15 regions/autonomous provinces the proportion of intensive-care places taken up by COVID-19 patients was above the critical threshold of 30%, up from 14 last week.
It said the proportion of ICU places taken up by coronavirus sufferers was 41% nationwide.
The "overloading of hospital services, the incidence that is still too high and the broad spread of some more transmittable viral variants require the application of every useful contagion-containment measure," the draft report concluded.
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