Rome, March 17:  Italy reported 3,526 new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday. A total of 345 people also lost their lives due to COVID-19 in the European country on March 17. Italy is the worst-affected country in Europe. Till now, 31,506 positive cases of novel coronavirus and 2,503 deaths have been reported in this country. Coronavirus in Italy: Health Workers on Edge of Exhaustion in Fight Against COVID-19.

Meanwhile, Italy on Tuesday made it mandatory for everyone who enters the country to self-isolate for 14 days unless they are only stopping over for 72 hours to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In a joint statement, the ministries of health and transportation said that the measure would stay in effect till March 25. On Sunday, a one-day record death toll  of 368 was reported in the European country.  

Earlier in the day, to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Russia also announced to seal its borders for foreign nationals and stateless people. The restriction on the entry of foreign citizens and stateless people will start from March 18 midnight till May 1, 2020. In Russia, a total number of confirmed cases for COVID-19 rose close to 93 after 30 cases were reported on March 16.

Last week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had declared the outbreak of nCoV as a “pandemic”. Over 7,000 deaths have been reported worldwide due to the deadly virus. China is the worst-hit country, where over 4,000 people have lost their lives so far.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 17, 2020 11:39 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).