Italy deaths increase by 793 in a day

The death toll in Italy has risen to 4,825 after the biggest hike in the number of deaths in the country in 24 hours, officials said on Saturday.

The 19% jump is by far the largest daily rise in absolute terms since the outbreak emerged a month ago.

On Thursday, Italy overtook China as the country to register most deaths from the highly contagious virus.

The total number of cases in Italy rose to 53,578 from a previous 47,021, an increase of 13.9%, the Civil Protection Agency said.

The hardest-hit northern region of Lombardy remains in a critical situation, with 3,095 deaths and 25,515 cases.

Of those originally infected nationwide, 6,072 had fully recovered on Saturday compared to 5,129 the day before. 

There were 2,857 people in intensive care against a previous 2,655.