The number of people who have died from the coronavirus in Italy has hit 3,405, meaning the country has now reported more deaths than China as a result of the pandemic.
The death toll in China, where the coronavirus started in Wuhan, in Hubei province late 2019, currently stands at 3,249, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Health officials in Italy said Thursday that the death toll had risen by 427 in the last 24 hours, with 475 deaths recorded the day before.
After sweeping through China in early 2020, the virus spread to Europe where Italy — and particularly the northern Lombardy region, which is home to financial hub Milan — became the epicenter.
The country, like many others in Europe, remains under lockdown as authorities attempt to stem the human cost of the virus. And closures will have to be extended beyond the current end-date of April 3, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte confirmed earlier in the day.
Speaking to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Conte said measures taken to close schools and universities and to restrict movement throughout Italy would have to be prolonged.
“The total blockade will go on,” Conte said. “The measures taken, both the closure of (public) activities and the ones concerning schools, can only be extended,” he told the paper.