Italy reports 49 more coronavirus deaths, toll at 197

Italy on Friday reported 49 more deaths from the new coronavirus, the highest single-day toll to date, bringing the total number of fatalities over the past two weeks to 197.

The total is the second-highest in the world after China. Italy also saw its number of COVID-19 infections grow by 778 to 4,636, the fourth highest after China, South Korea and Iran.

The Italian government has been watching closely to see if the cases are spreading from the richer north, where infections had largely been contained during the first 10 days of the epidemic.

All 22 Italian regions have now registered cases, and one new death was reported Friday in the Lazio region that includes Rome and its outskirts.

But there were no new deaths reported in the south, which recorded its first and only fatality in the southeastern region of Puglia around the city of Bari on Wednesday.

The number of people receiving intensive care grew to 462 from 351 on Thursday.