Coronavirus: Italy Sees Worst Day Yet, 793 Dead in 24 Hours

This picture taken on March 21, 2020 shows coffins on the ground of the church in Serina,
Piero Cruciatti/AFP via Getty Images

Italy has hit its highest daily coronavirus death toll yet as 793 people have died in the last 24 hours alone, bringing the nation’s overall death toll to nearly 5,000 as of Saturday.

Newly released data from Italy’s Civil Protection reveals that the country’s death toll has jumped from 4,032 deaths on Friday to 4,825 on Saturday, as well as from 47,021 confirmed cases on Friday to 53,578 on Saturday.

In the last 24 hours alone, an additional 793 people have died in Italy due to Chinese coronavirus, shattering the nation’s previously held record — 627 — for the highest daily death toll.

On Thursday, Italy’s coronavirus death toll of 3,405 had made it the country with the highest recorded amount of coronavirus deaths in the world, surpassing China’s officially reported death toll, as the Chinese communist government has claimed a total of 3,245 deaths from the virus that originated in Wuhan, China.

Now, as of Saturday, Italy is nearing 5,000 coronavirus deaths nationwide.

On Friday, the Italian government decided to call in its military to help enforce the lockdown in Italy’s worst-infected northern region of Lombardy, as people have been ignoring the government’s quarantine rules as the nation’s death toll continues to surge.

While the Wuhan virus plagues the nation, most of the confirmed cases and deaths remain heavily concentrated in the nation’s Lombardy region.

Among the 793 people who died in the last 24 hours, 546 of those were from Lombardy, according to a report by La Repubblica.

The report added that 243 mayors in the region have signed a letter to Italy’s prime minister Giuseppe Conte and Lombardy’s governor Attilio Fontana, begging them to ramp up draconian measures in an effort to stop the spread of the deadly virus.

“At the moment, we believe that the adoption of courageous new restrictive measures may represent the only and desirable solution for a tragedy that seems today,” said the mayors in their letter.

“The infected increase relentlessly,” they added. “It has no end.”

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.