A tourist sits at a restaurant in San Marco Square in Venice, Italy, on Thursday, March 5. Francesca Volpi/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The death toll from novel coronavirus in Italy surged today, marking the highest daily increase since the start of the virus outbreak in the country.

Angelo Borrelli, head of the Italian Civil Protection Agency, said today that 49 people had died in the last day, bringing the country wide death toll to 197.

The total number of confirmed cases in Italy rose by 778 on Friday, bringing the total number in the country to 4,636.

Borrelli said the median age of the people who have died from the virus in Italy is 81 years of age.