An employee of the municipal company Veritas sprays disinfectant in public areas at the Rialto Bridge in Venice (Picture: Getty)

There have been 368 deaths from coronavirus in Italy in 24 hours, an increase of 25%.

This is the highest number yet, bringing the total number to 1,809.

The number of positive cases rose to 24,747 from 21,157 a day earlier as Europe’s worst outbreak of the deadly virus continued to expand.

Yesterday, authorities announced that 175 had been killed by the Sars-like disease in the past 24 hours.


A man carries out sanitisation operations at a neighbourhood in Rome (Picture: EPA)

The fatality rate in Italy is around 6.8%, double the World Health Organisation’s global estimate (Picture: PA)

Personnel check passengers arriving on the Intercity Night train from Milan to Messina (Picture: EPA)

The country has been put on lockdown with strict emergency measures in place.

Bars, restaurants, sports stadiums, schools and cinemas have been shut down and people who refuse to self-isolate knowing they are infected with Covid-19 could face legal action.



Today, the Pope made a blessing over an eerily empty St Peter’s Square.

Pope Francis makes a blessing over an empty St Peter’s square at the Vatican (Picture: Getty)

Pope Francis for the second Sunday delivered his noon remarks from inside the Apostolic Library at the Vatican.

He praised people who might risk contagion to help the poor and homeless.

The Vatican later confirmed Holy Week ceremonies would take place without the ‘physical presence of the faithful.’