A 95-year-old nan has become the oldest Italian to beat the deadly coronavirus which has claimed the lives of nearly 5500 of her fellow citizens.

Alma Clara Corsini, from Fanano in the province of Modena, was diagnosed with COVID-19 earlier this month.

Alma was rushed to a hospital in the city's Northern Province of Pavullo on March 5 after she began to show signs of the virus, which has killed thousands of elderly patients around the world.

The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in Italy yesterday rose to 5476 - an increase of 651 from the day before.

Alma Clara Corsini, 95, from Modena, Italy, and the critical care team that helped her recover.

Soldiers have been drafted in to ferry bodies to cemeteries already struggling to cope with the huge numbers of deaths. The total number of cases in Italy rose yesterday to 59,138 - a jump of 5560 from 53,578. Of those, 7024 have fully recovered.

'THEY LOOKED AFTER ME WELL'

Alma was one of the lucky patients, with medical staff confirming the pensioner's body had shown a "great reaction" which helped make a full recovery.

From her hospital bed, Alma told Italian newspaper Gazzetta Di Modena: "Yes, yes, I'm fine.

"They were good people who looked after me well, and now they'll send me home in a little while."

Specialists said she was able to recover without "antiviral therapy" which are normally given to patients but are strong medication.

On the day she was admitted to hospital, The Sun reported how a 101-year-old patient - identified in local media by his surname of Dai - had recovered after spending a week in Wuhan Third Hospital in Hubei Province.

Until his return home, a 98-year-old woman - Hu Hanying - was the oldest patient to successfully overcome the disease in China.

More than 337,000 people have been infected by coronavirus across the world and 14,651 have died.

Deaths in Italy were surpassing the toll in China where the outbreak began, according to a Reuters tally.

Infections have been reported by 192 countries outside China.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as Oldest person to recover from virus

COVID-19 patients taken to a new intensive care unit set up in a tensile structure in Milan, Italy on Monday. Picture: Claudio Furlan/LaPresse/AP

Coffins pile up in the Crematorium Temple of Piacenza, Northern Italy. Picture: Claudio Furlan/LaPresse/AP