The number of coronavirus patients to have died in Italy is now higher than the recorded death toll in China where the outbreak began. Italy is Europe’s worst-hit country and has now topped China for total deaths.
Some 427 more people with COVID-19 have died in Italy, taking the total number of deaths to 3,405. The number of confirmed coronavirus deaths in China is 3,249, while Wuhan – the city where the first case emerged – reported no new infections on Thursday.
Italy’s latest figure is a slight improvement on the day before, when there were 475 deaths.
There have been more than 227,000 suspected and confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide and more than 9,300 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the outbreak.
Italy has been on total lockdown since 9 March.
Experts have warned the peak of the spread of the virus there may not arrive until mid-April in the north, so far the country’s hardest hit area, and possibly later in other regions.
