ROME (REUTERS) - The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has risen by 41 over the past 24 hours to 148, the Civil Protection Agency said on Thursday (March 5), with the contagion still showing no sign of slowing.

The accumulative number of cases in the country, which has been hardest hit by the virus in Europe, totalled 3,858, up from 3,089 on Wednesday.

The head of the agency said that of those originally infected, 414 had fully recovered versus 276 the day before.

The contagion came to light 14 days ago and is focused on a handful of hotspots in the north of Italy.

However, cases have now been confirmed in each of the country's 20 regions.