The death toll from the coronavirus in Italy has climbed to 79, the head of Italy’s civil protection agency announced.
Angelo Borelli said 27 more people died from the disease over the past 24 hours with the death toll now surpassing Iran, which has 77 recorded deaths.
The total number of cases in Europe’s worst-hit country rose to 2,502 from 2,036 on Monday.
The increase in deaths was the largest since the outbreak surfaced 12 days ago in the wealthy northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto.
The World Health Organization warned the world was in “uncharted territory” as coronavirus cases continued to spread in the West and Italy announced 27 more people died from the disease.
More than 92,000 cases have been confirmed worldwide and the number of deaths from the virus has reached 3,110 globally, according to the WHO.
Protective gear – such as masks and goggles used by health workers fighting coronavirus – were running out and the WHO warned against “hoarding and misuse”.
