COVID-19 Death Toll in Italy goes past 3,400, overtakes that of China where the virus originated, after China reports zero new local transmissions for the first time since the outbreak.

The death toll from coronavirus outbreak in Italy rose by 427 to 3,405.

With this, the Mediterranean country overtook China's coronavirus death total and braced for an extended lockdown that could see the economy suffer its biggest shock since World War II.

Some 3,245 people have died in China since the virus first emerged there late last year. Italy’s outbreak came to light in the north of the country on Feb. 21.

The total number of cases in Italy rose to 41,035 from a previous 35,713, up 14.9%, a faster rate of growth than seen over the last three days, the Civil Protection Agency said.

Of those originally infected, 4,440 had fully recovered compared to 4,025 the day before. There were 2,498 people in intensive care against a previous 2,257.