Rome, Mar 5 (IANS): Italy's overall coronavirus caseload has increased to 2,999,119 after the country registered 22,865 new cases in the last 24 hours, up from 20,884 reported a day earlier.

On Thursday, the Ministry of Health said that that another 339 people died of the disease, down from 347 on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The new figure pushed the death toll 98,974, the sixth highest in the world after the US, Brazil, Mexico, India and the UK.

Meanwhile, another 13,488 Covid-19 patients recovered, down from 14,068 on Wednesday and pushing overall recoveries to 2,453,706.

Of the total current infections, the vast majority, or 423,807 people, are isolated at home with mild or no symptoms, while 20,157 are hospitalised with symptoms.

Another 2,475 are being treated in intensive care units, up by 232 compared to Wednesday.

Also on Thursday, the Gimbe Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to disseminating scientific evidence and knowledge for better public health services, said that according to its independent monitoring report, new cases have jumped by 33 percent between February 24 and March 2.

The foundation said that the rise has "marked the start of the third wave" of the pandemic.

Italy is in the midst of a "vertiginous acceleration due to the variants" while "the mass vaccination campaign is failing to take off" due to "organisational difficulties" in many of the country's 20 regions, the foundation claimed.

Over 4.9 million people in Italy have been given at least the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, and more than 1.5 million of them have received both shots, according to the Ministry of Health.

The recipients included health care staff, nursing home residents and staff, people aged over 80, the military, and school staff.