The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in Italy has leapt by 627 to 4,032 in the last 24 hours. The increase of 18.4% means Italy overtook China as the nation to register the most deaths from the killer bug since it arrived in the European country a month ago.
Until Friday, Italy had never recorded more than 475 deaths in a single day, while China, where Covid-19 emerged at the end of 2019, never reported a daily death toll of more than 150.
The total number of cases in Italy rose to 47,021 from a previous 41,035, an increase of 14.6%, the Civil Protection Agency said.
The hardest-hit northern region of Lombardy remains in a critical state, with 2,549 deaths and 22,264 cases. Shocking footage from inside hospitals shows patients