Rome: Italy on Wednesday reported 475 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, the highest one-day official toll of any nation since the first case was detected in China late last year. However, China on Thursday said no new domestic cases of the coronavirus were reported for the first time in the country, three months after the deadly virus broke out in Wuhan.
Total deaths in Italy have reached 2,978, more than half of all the cases recorded outside China, while the number of infections stood at 35,713. The previous record high of 368 deaths was also recorded in Italy, on Sunday.
The nation of 60 million has now recorded 34.2 per cent of all the deaths officially attributed to COVID-19 across the world. With the death rate still climbing despite the Mediterranean country entering a second week under effective lockdown, officials urged Italians to have faith and to stay strong.
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"The main thing is, do not give up," Italian National Institute of Health chief Silvio Brusaferro said in a nationally televised press conference.
"It will take a few days before we see the benefits" of containment measures, said Brusaferro adding that "We must maintain these measures to see their effect, and above all to protect the most vulnerable."
Imposed nationally on March 12, the shutdown of most Italian businesses and a ban on public gatherings are due to expire on March 25. But school closures and other measures, such as a ban fan attendance at sporting events, are due to run on until April 3.
A top government minister hinted Wednesday that the school closure would be extended well into next month, if not longer.
The rates within Italy itself remained stable, with two-thirds of the deaths -- 1,959 in all -- reported in the northern Lombardy region around Milan, the Italian financial and fashion capital.
The neighbouring Emilia-Romagna region of Bologna has suffered a total of 458 fatalities, and Turin's Piedmont region has had 154 deaths. Rome's Lazio region has a toll of 32 deaths and 724 infections.
On the other hand, China's National Health Commission (NHC) in its daily report on Thursday said no new domestically transmitted cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were reported on the Chinese mainland on Wednesday.
It, however, said 34 new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported but they were all from those arriving from abroad.
Wuhan, which bore the brunt of the virus since it broke out in December last year, also reported zero cases on Wednesday, marking a notable first in the city's months-long battle with the deadly virus, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
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The Health Commission of the Hubei Province said the total confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus disease in Wuhan and Hubei remained at 50,005 and 67,800 respectively on Wednesday.
The NHC said with 34 confirmed cases from the people arriving from abroad, the number of imported cases in China rose to 189.
Of the 34 newly imported cases, 21 were reported in Beijing, nine in the Guangdong Province, two in Shanghai, one in the Heilongjiang Province and one in the Zhejiang Province, it said.
China so far has reported a total of 80,928 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 of which 3,245 died, while 70,420 patients were discharged after treatment.
By the end of Wednesday, 192 confirmed cases including four deaths had been reported in Hong Kong, 15 confirmed cases in the Macao and 100 in Taiwan including one death, the NHC said.
The coronavirus outbreak has killed 8,809 people and infected 21,8631 across 157 countries and territories, according to a tracker maintained by Johns Hopkins University.
(With AFP & PTI Inputs)