Italy's daily coronavirus cases hit new record, deaths jump above 200

ROME, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Italy has registered 21,994 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Tuesday, the highest daily tally since the start of the country's outbreak and up from the previous record of 21,273 posted on Sunday.

The ministry also reported 221 COVID-related deaths on Tuesday, against 141 the day before -- the first time Italy has registered more than 200 fatalities in a single day since mid-May.

A total 37,700 people have now died in Italy because of coronavirus, while 564,778 cases of the disease have been registered to date.

The northern region of Lombardy, centred on Italy's financial capital Milan, remained the hardest hit area, reporting 5,035 new cases on Tuesday. The southern region of Campania was the second-worst affected, chalking up 2,761 cases. (Reporting by Angelo Amante; Editing by Crispian Balmer)