Italian health authorities on Friday reported the country’s largest 24-hour death toll since the start of the CCP virus pandemic, confirming that 919 people succumbed to the disease.
The country’s Civil Protection Agency had reported smaller daily figures earlier this week, prompting speculation among officials that Italy has “flattened the curb,” meaning that the rate of infections has slowed.
Italy reported more than 86,000 total cases of the virus and is neck and neck with the United States.
Officials said that of those originally infected with the virus, 10,950 had fully recovered as of Friday, compared to 10,361 during the previous day. More than 3,700 people are in intensive care, according to ANSA.
The northern region of Lombardy still remains the hardest-hit area in Italy and on Friday reported a steep rise in deaths compared with the previous day. A total of 5,402 deaths have been reported, according to the news agency.
“Today we have more deaths than registered yesterday, but it is also true that in percentage terms, today’s increase is roughly equivalent to that of the past three days, in which we seem to see a clear stabilization,” Spain’s health emergency chief, Fernando Simon, told reporters.
“After these first 10 days of confinement, it is clear that we are just at the beginning of this epidemic wave. It has submerged eastern France and now it is arriving in the Paris region and northern France,” Philippe said.
Germany, meanwhile, has reported more than 49,000 cases and 304 deaths as of Friday, according to researchers from Johns Hopkins University.