ROME — Italy’s coronavirus crisis, the world’s deadliest, showed no sign of abating on Friday, as a record single-day dead count of 627 raised the country’s total to more than 4,000.
The grim milestone came a day after Italy surpassed the number of dead in China, and one month since the first locally transmitted coronavirus case was confirmed in the northern Lombardy region.
In its daily bulletin, the Italian Civil Protection Agency reported 4,032 fatalities, up 18.4 percent from Thursday, and 47,021 overall contagions, up by almost 15 percent.
Recoveries were up by 15.5 percent to 5,129, while the number of intensive care patients — a closely watched figure given an acute shortage of hospital beds — rose by around 6 percent, to 2,655.
Lombardy, which surrounds Milan, remained the region worst hit by the outbreak, with over 22,000 cases and 2,549 deaths. Lazio, the region that includes Rome, reported 1,008 cases and 43 deaths.
Italy has been under national lockdown since March 10, but as the virus keeps spreading, authorities further restricted social interactions.
Health Minister Roberto Speranza ordered the closure of all parks and banned outdoor leisure activities. He said individual physical exercise was still allowed, but only close to home.
He also closed down bars and restaurants in train stations and petrol stations, and said people could no longer move to their second homes on weekends.
Italians are under orders to stay home, but can still go out if they cannot work from home, to take the dog for a walk, or for urgent errands like buying food and medicines.
The coronavirus outbreak and the lockdown measures governments are adopting to contain it are expected to have a crippling effect on economies including Italy.
