Italy has reported 250 new deaths due to the Covid-19 virus – a one-day record since the country experienced the biggest outbreak of positive cases across Europe.

The latest spate of deaths has brought the Italian death toll to 1,266, up from 1,016 on Thursday, officials said. 

The total number of confirmed cases of the Covid-19 virus in Italy also rose from 15,113 on Thursday to 17,660 on Friday. The outbreak was first identified in Italy’s northern regions in late February and has spread rapidly since. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that Europe was now the center of the global Covid-19 pandemic, as the death toll surpassed 5,000 worldwide.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was “impossible” to say when the pandemic will peak and warned governments that it would be a “deadly mistake” to assume any country could not fall victim to a major outbreak.

Source: RT