Italy reports 475 coronavirus deaths in one day, cases top 35,000

Italy’s death toll from the coronavirus outbreak saw its biggest increase since the outbreak overnight Tuesday, with health officials reporting a whopping 475 deaths in 24 hours. 

According to the BBC, Italian health officials have reported 475 new deaths, bringing the death toll to nearly 3,000. The total number of coronavirus cases in Italy now tops 35,700.

Italy has been the hardest-hit European country dealing with the coronavirus and has seen the greatest number of infected persons outside of China, where the virus is thought to have originated. Stores and nonessential businesses have been shuttered as much of the country has been ordered on lockdown by authorities seeking to control the spread.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak a global pandemic, while officials around the world have restricted travel and ordered schools and other large gathering spaces to close.

The number of people killed by the virus passed 100 in the United Kingdom on Wednesday, according to the BBC, while France and Belgium sit only slightly higher. Spain, meanwhile, has reported nearly 600 dead from the disease.

“To suppress and control epidemics, countries must isolate, test, treat and trace,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday, according to the BBC.

Updated at 2:43 p.m.