ROME (Reuters) – Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy climbed by 172 on Tuesday, against 179 the day before, the Civil Protection Agency said, but the daily tally of new cases doubled to 1,402 from 744 on Monday.

However, the rise in new cases was partly due to late reporting by the hard-hit Lombardy region, which said it had found 419 infections from previous weeks that it had not logged.

The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on Feb. 21 now stands at 30,911 the agency said, the third highest in the world after those of the United States and Britain.

The number of confirmed cases amounts to 221,216, the fifth highest global tally behind those of the United States, Spain, Britain and Russia.

People registered as currently carrying the illness fell to 81,266 from 82,488 the day before, the agency said.

There were 952 people in intensive care on Tuesday, down from 999 on Monday, maintaining a long-running decline. Of those originally infected, 109,039 were declared recovered against 106,587 a day earlier.

The agency said 1.742 million people had been tested for the virus against 1.702 million on Monday, out of a population of around 60 million.

(Reporting by Gavin Jones, editing by Crispian Balmer)