Italy again reported the highest single-day death toll since the coronavirus outbreak began: 919 deaths. Its cases have surpassed China's.
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Italy's total coronavirus cases rose to 86,498 on Friday, surpassing China's total.
Italy's death toll hit 9,134, an increase of 919 deaths from Thursday. That's the highest single-day death toll recorded by any country since the coronavirus outbreak began.
Italian healthcare workers have reported shortages of hospital beds, a lack of personal protective equipment, and a growing number of infections among medical staff members.
The US has the highest number of coronavirus cases in the world, at over 101,000.
Italy, which now has the second-highest number of coronavirus cases in the world after the US, on Friday reported the highest single-day death toll yet: 919 deaths.
That broke its record from last Saturday, when it recorded 793 deaths.
Officials said that as of Friday, 86,498 people had been infected in Italy and 9,134 had died, the local newspaper Corriere della Sera reported.
The US's case total is the world's largest, at more than 101,000 — it surpassed China's case total on Thursday — though its death toll is far lower than Italy's, at under 1,600 as of Friday. China has confirmed more than 81,800 cases and nearly 3,300 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Comunidad de Madrid/Handout via Reuters
Italy recorded its first coronavirus cases in late January. Healthcare workers in the country have reported severe shortages of medical equipment and hospital beds, and an increasing number of medical staff members have gotten infected.
Elderly people face a higher risk of having severe symptoms, and Italy is home to one of the world's oldest populations, second only to Japan.
Doctors in Italy have in some cases been forced to decide who to treat first as the health system becomes overwhelmed, and harrowing video footage from hospitals has shown medical workers struggling to deal with the volume of patients.
Italians have urged people in other countries to observe social distancing and follow lockdown measures, warning of a crisis on Italy's scale if they do not.
Sky News
Italy has rolled out a series of increasingly strict lockdown measures, now enforced by the police and military — residents cannot go outside their homes without a form that justifies their movement. Italians sitting on their balconies or peeping out of windows have also been shaming people spotted in the streets, Quartz reported.
Videos have shown angry Italian mayors confronting people on the street and addressing residents from their desks. Captions on one video quote a mayor as saying: "I'm getting news that some of you would like to throw graduation parties. We will send the police over. With flamethrowers."
—🌈 (@protectheflames) March 22, 2020
Elsewhere in Europe, as of Friday, Spain had recorded more than 4,800 deaths, meaning its death toll has also overtaken China's. France had more than 29,500 cases, while Germany had at least 47,300.
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