Italy’s coronavirus death toll has leapt by 627 in a single day, an increase of 18.4 percent, taking the total to 4,032 – by far the largest daily rise in absolute terms since the virus emerged a month ago.
On Thursday, Italy overtook China as the country to register most deaths from the highly contagious virus.
Until today, Italy had never recorded more than 475 deaths in a single day, while China, where the virus has slowed sharply, has never reported more than 150.
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The total number of cases in Italy rose to 47,021 from a previous 41,035, an increase of 14.6%, the Civil Protection Agency said.
The hardest-hit northern region of Lombardy remains in a critical situation, with 2,549 deaths and 22,264 cases.
Of those originally infected nationwide, 5,129 had fully recovered on Friday compared to 4,440 the day before. There were 2,655 people in intensive care against a previous 2,498.
It follows Lombardy sending for the army to enforce its coronavirus lockdown today as 380 more people died in that region alone and doctors in Italy’s crisis-hit hospitals described an ‘endless stream’ of sick patients.
The region in northern Italy has hired 114 soldiers to keep people inside after some Italians defied the country’s quarantine rules – hampering its efforts to halt the world’s deadliest outbreak.
More than 53,000 people have already been issued with summons for violating the rules, with some people going shopping several times a day while others have been exercising together outdoors.
The northern region of Veneto shut parks today and said residents could no longer go for walks, while adjacent Emilia-Romagna banned jogging and bicycle rides, saying people had to stay indoors to prevent infections.
Towns have taken measures such as shutting down public wi-fi and closing down gambling machines in the few shops that remain open in a desperate bid to keep people inside.
‘Unfortunately we are not seeing a change of trend in the numbers, which are rising,’ Lombardy governor Attilio Fontana told a news conference today as he announced the army would step in.
The crisis has overwhelmed Italy’s health service, prompting doctors to urge Britain to enter a total lockdown now to prevent a similar crisis engulfing the health service in the UK.
‘What I would suggest is just shut down to stop the outbreak,’ said Dr Lorenzo Grazioli, who works at the Papa Giovanni XII hospital in hard-hit Bergamo and was previously based in the UK.
Another health worker in Italy – British nurse Connor McAinsh – told ITV News that ‘it’s just an endless stream of people coming in and as soon as we have a bed, we have a new patient coming in who needs critical care’.
Some patients have been wearing tightly-sealed ‘bubble’ helmets in intensive care, which help them breathe and have been shown to improve survival chances.
