Rome, March 17  The number of active coronavirus cases in Italy has reached 24,747, but the increase was at its slowest pace since March 1, signalling the start of a tipping point for the outbreak in the country, deemed as the epicentre of the pandemic in Europe.

The Civil Protection officials said the total number of new cases between Sunday and Monday was 2,470, down from 2,853 between Saturday and Sunday, reports Xinhua news agency.

"We are missing some data and so the final tally may change, but we can say there is a decrease in the rate of increase," said Angelo Borrelli, head of Italy's Civil Protection Department.

"We are looking at this figure on the rate of increase with a great deal of attention. It is a sign of how much the measures are making an impact."

Borrelli predicted a "consolidation" of the data in the next two days, meaning that it will start to reinforce the slowing trend.

"The hope is that we will continue to see a slowdown in the rate of increase and then we can be even more sure our country has taken an important step forward," he said.

"Today's data reflects the contagion rate from 12 to 14 days ago," Franco Locatelli, president of Italy's Higher Council of Health, said on Monday.

"We will have to wait a few more days to see a more complete reduction in the number of infected subjects and, more importantly, a marked reduction in the number of patients under intensive care."

Among the other data released Monday, officials revealed that the death toll rose to 2,158 compared to 1,809 a day earlier. The number of cured individuals was 2,749, up from 2,335 previously.

Of those ill, 10,197 were in isolation at home, 11,025 hospitalized with symptoms, and 1,851 in intensive care.

Those figures are all up from 9,268, 9,663, and 1,672, respectively.

With 23,073 active cases of coronavirus, Italy is the hardest-hit country outside China.

The 2,158 deaths from the virus in Italy is also second only to the total in China.