By lunchtime on Thursday, Italy had set a grim record - surpassing the number of COVID-19 deaths recorded in China.
Until Thursday morning, China - where the virus surfaced late last year - had the most fatalities at 3,245, which was up only eight from the previous day, as the spread appears to be under control.
However, Italy, the country hardest hit outside of China, today reported 427 new deaths, bringing the total to 3,405.
The country now has 41,035 reported cases of the virus, up a staggering 5,322 from the previous day.
Almost nine per cent of the reported cases have ended in the patient dying.
Whereas in China, where there has been 80,928 cases, less than four per cent have lost their life.
Globally, as of Wednesday at noon, there has been 239,787 cases reported across 177 countries, resulting in 9,953 deaths.
Amost 87,000 of the cases have fully recovered.
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