Italy hits one-day record with 368 new coronavirus deaths — official data

Spain coronavirus cases jump by a third, over 100 new deaths

By AFP - Mar 15,2020 - Last updated at Mar 15,2020

People sing, wave and clap their hands next to a banner reading 'Forza ragazzi hastag #andratuttobene, restiamo a casa' (Come on, guys #everythingsgonnabeallright, we stay home), during a flash mob 'Una canzone per l'Italia' (A song for Italy) at the Magliana district in Rome on Saturday (AFP photo)

ROME/ MADRID — Italy on Sunday recorded 368 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, its highest one-day increase to date, taking the total to 1,809, the most outside China, official data showed.

The number of infections has reached 24,747, a count released to the media by Italy's civil protection service said.

The northern Lombardy region around Milan remained the European epicentre of the pandemic, officially reporting 1,218 deaths, or 67 per cent of the Italian total.

But Sunday also saw the number of deaths in the southeastern Puglia region around the city of Bari double from eight to 16.

The Lazio region that includes the Italian capital Rome has officially recorded 16 deaths in all — up from 13 on Saturday — and 436 infections.

The number of people infected with the coronavirus in Spain increased by a third to 7,753 and more than 100 new deaths were recorded over the last 24 hours, health officials said Sunday.

The latest spike in Europe’s second-most affected country after Italy comes after the Spanish government imposed a near-total nationwide lockdown, banning people from leaving home except to go to work, get medical care or buy food.

The country’s death toll from the outbreak climbed to 288 on Sunday from at least 183, while the total number of cases rose to 7,753 from 5,753.

The wife of Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is among those who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, his office said late Saturday, just hours after he announced the lockdown.

Both Begona Gomez and her husband were well, and were at their official residence following the new measures introduced by the health authorities, said a government statement.

The measures were introduced as part of a 15-day state of emergency officially declared by his government on Saturday.

It is only the second time that the government has evoked it since the country returned to democracy following the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975.

The other time was during a 2010 air traffic controllers’ strike.

Sanchez warned Friday that the number of infections could reach 10,000 in the coming days in Spain.

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