A staffer delivers a medical oxygen tank to coronavirus patients who are being treated at home, in Bergamo, one of the areas worst affected by the virus, Northern Italy.
The death toll from an outbreak of the coronavirus in Italy has climbed by 766 to 14,681, marginally higher than the daily tally registered a day earlier.
Italian authorities have reported 766 new Covid-19 fatalities, bringing the country's death toll from the coronavirus pandemic to nearly 15,000.
Italy's death toll, already the world's highest, now stands at 14,681.
The total number of infections, including recoveries and deaths, reached 119,827 on Friday, up 4 per cent from Thursday.
The daily rate of increase has hovered around this level throughout the week.
The number of those who had recovered from the virus rose by 8.1 per cent, to 19,758, and there was only a minimal increase in the number of patients being treated in intensive care, up 0.4 per cent to 4068.
Italian health authorities say the contagion curve has reached a plateau and the infection rate can be brought down only if strict social distancing measures remain in place.
Civil Protection Agency chief Angelo Borrelli was asked in a Radio Capital interview whether national lockdown measures - in force since March 10 - could be lifted in mid-May.
"It could be, as it could happen earlier or it could happen later, it depends on the data," he said.
• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website
"We are now in a stationary situation, we have to see when this situation will start to decline," he added.
Six people have now died in a suspected mass methanol poisoning event.