Italy Reports 368 New Deaths from COVID-19 in One Day

A total of 1,809 persons infected with COVID-19 have now died in Italy, the country hardest hit by the pandemic after China. The Italian government reported 368 new deaths from the coronavirus yesterday, marking its largest number of fatalities in a day since the start of the outbreak. The total number of cases in Italy has climbed to more than 24,700.

The number of positive cases rose to 24,747 on Sunday from 21,157 a day earlier.

With almost a quarter of its population aged 65 and over, Italy has been particularly vulnerable to this illness, which hits the elderly hardest.

Italian media reported the death of Vittorio Gregotti, a cherished Italian architect who designed the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics stadium. Gregotti contracted COVID-19 and died at the age of 92.

70-year-old Giorgio Valoti, the Mayor of Cene, a town in the Italian province of Bergamo, died from COVID-19 in hospital as his condition worsened on Thursday.

Governments around the world have stepped up extensive government measures to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The novel virus has spread to 123 countries, killing nearly 5,800 persons with over 153,000 infected worldwide, says the World Health Organization (WHO).

By Elene Dzebisashvili