Italy reported 793 coronavirus-related deaths in 24 hours on Saturday, March 21, the largest single-day death toll so far reported in any country since the outbreak started.The number tops a record death toll Italy set just a day earlier, when the country reported 627 deaths in a day related to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.The latest news bring Italy's total number of coronavirus deaths up to nearly 5,000, and its number of reported cases to 53,578. Italy has become the country with the highest reported death toll, and has far surpassed the numbers of deaths reported in China, where the coronavirus outbreak started. This is the third time Italy has a set a record for the number of coronavirus deaths in a single day.The first case of the novel coronavirus in Italy was confirmed on January 31.

Despite a nationwide lockdown, the country's number of coronavirus cases has steadily climbed. The pace of the disease's spread in Italy is much higher than it ever was in China: The country reported a high of 150 deaths in a single day on February 23, after which the rate started to decline.

The nationwide lockdown in Italy, whose population is around 60 million, went into effect March 10. The quarantine was scheduled to end April 3, but Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte recently told an Italian newspaper the lockdown would be extended.