Italy has overtaken China as the country with most coronavirus-related deaths, registering 3,405 dead, a rise of 427 on the day before.

Thursday’s figure represented a slight improvement on the day before, when Italy recorded 475 deaths – the most reported by any country in a single day since the start of the outbreak.

However, the total number of cases in Italy rose to 41,035 from a previous 35,713, up 14.9%, a faster rate of growth than seen over the last three days, the Civil Protection Agency said.

Some 3,245 people have died in China since the virus first emerged there late last year. Italy’s outbreak came to light in the north of the country on 21 February.