The death toll in Italy rose to 3,405 against China's 3,245.
Italy on Thursday surpassed China in terms of most number of deaths due to novel coronavirus after recording 427 deaths in the last 24 hours.
The death toll in Italy rose to 3,405, against China's 3,245 even though the number of infections recorded in the European nation is half than that of the world's most populated country.
While China has recorded 80,928 cases of coronavirus infection, 41,035 people in Italy have been confirmed to have contracted the disease. In terms of cases per million, China's is 56 while Italy has the total case per million population of 679.
On Wednesday, Italy recorded 475 deaths from COVID-19 which was the highest number of deaths for any country since the virus was first identified in China's Hubei province late last year.
The total number of confirmed cases have crossed 235,000-mark, according to data from Johns Hopkins University in the US.
The number of deaths in Iran also crossed 1200-mark. The Johns Hopkins University database put the number of deaths in Iran at 1,284 with total number of confirmed cases at 18,407.
Spain is the second most affected nation in the European Union and recorded 165 new deaths on Thursday, taking the toll to 803 with 17,395 confirmed cases.
The number of cases in the United States also crossed the 10,000-mark. According to Johns Hopkins University database, 137 people have died in the US while the number of cases is at 10,755.
In India, the number of cases has also risen to 174 with four deaths. The authorities have taken several measures including closure of schools, work from home option for private and government employees, restriction on large gatherings as part of social distancing.
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