MILAN (Reuters) - Italy reported 62,037 COVID-19 related cases on Wednesday, against 83,643 the day before, the health ministry said, while the number of deaths fell to 155 from 169.

       Italy has registered 161,187 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February 2020, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the eighth highest in the world. The country has reported 15.5 million cases to date.

       Patients in hospital with COVID-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 10,166 on Wednesday, down from 10,207 a day earlier.

       There were 42 new admissions to intensive care units, down from 53 on Tuesday. The total number of intensive care patients fell to 449 from a previous 463.

       Some 419,995 tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 563,018, the health ministry said.

       (Reporting by Maria Pia Quaglia, editing Federico Maccioni)