Italy coronavirus deaths jumps to 79

Italy on Tuesday reported a jump in the number of deaths from the novel coronavirus to 79, with more than 2,500 people infected—the most of any country in Europe.

The civil protection agency said 27 people had died since Monday. The number was up on the 18 deaths reported over the preceding 24-hour span, from Sunday to Monday.

Most of the deaths—55—have been recorded in the northern Lombardy region around Milan, with Bologna's Emilia-Romagna region reporting 18 deaths.

The number of people receiving intensive care treatment in hospital rose to 229 from 166 on Monday, the official figures showed.

Italy has 2,502 coronavirus cases in all. Officials said they had carried out 25,856 tests.