Italy COVID deaths up by 627 in a day, toll tops 4,000

Saturday, 21 March 2020 05:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

ROME (Reuters) - The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has leapt by 627 to 4,032, officials said on Friday, an increase of 18.4% — by far the largest daily rise in absolute terms since the contagion emerged a month ago.

On Thursday, Italy overtook China as the country to register most deaths from the highly contagious virus.

Until Friday, Italy had never recorded more than 475 deaths in a single day, while China, where the contagion has slowed sharply, has never reported more than 150.