More than 278,000 people have contracted the virus and at least 11,570 have died, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
Threat of severe economic downturn: A global recession is on us and experts believe coronavirus could drag the world economy into a depression.
US death toll rises: More than 250 people have now died from the disease in the United States.
Meanwhile, vice president, Mike Pence and his wife, Karen would be tested for the coronavirus.
Pence said that more than 195,000 Americans have been tested for the virus.
Pence noted that number does not include county hospitals or health care labs around the country.
Currently, only 19,343 tests have come back positive, Pence said.
Italy
Italian death toll rises by 793 in darkest day yet of country’s Covid-19 outbreak
The total number of dead in Italy from the COVID-19 outbreak rose to 4,825 on Saturday in the worst day for fatalities since the crisis began as the country’s number of infections continued to rise at a rapid pace.
Official numbers showed that the total number who have been declared to have died in Italy from the coronavirus increased by 793 over the last 24 hours, while the total number of diagnosed infections rose by 13.9 per cent to 53,578.
The figures released on Saturday showed that the total number of active cases, which strips out the recovered and the deceased, also rose sharply by 12.7 per cent to 42,681.
On Thursday Italy marked a grim milestone in its battle against the virus by overtaking China to become the country with the highest number of deaths from the COVID-19 virus in the world.
On Friday 475 fatalities were recorded in a single day, a number that also exceeded the worst ever day for deaths in China during its outbreak.
On Saturday in the northern region of Lombardy, the worst-hit area accounting for 47 per cent of all infections in Italy, a total of 546 people died over the last 24 hours, a figure that alone surpassed the worst ever number of fatalities nationally recorded on Friday.
As the numbers of patients requiring intensive care continues to rise, pushing the country’s medical system in the north to breaking point, the government has enforced even stricter measures to try and halt the spread of the virus. On Saturday 2,857 people were in intensive care, up from 2,655 on Friday.
On Friday the government banned the last types of outdoor exercise Italians were able to participate in under the lockdown measures by deciding that running and bicycle rides were no longer permitted. The Italian military has also been dispatched to Milan, the largest city in Lombardy, to ensure the lockdown measures are followed.
Over 223,633 people were inspected by the Italian police on Friday across the country, with 9,888 people reported for breaking the lockdown measures and 260 for false declarations about why they were outside, according to the Italian interior ministry.
CNN/Financial Times
