Rome, December 3: Italy on Thursday witnessed the highest spike in COVID-19 deaths so far. A total of 993 people succumbed in the European country in the past 24 hours, taking the coronavirus death toll to 58,038. Earlier, Italy had reported the sharpest spike in COVID-19 deaths on March 27 when the deadly virus had claimed 919 lives. Italy Claims to Have Developed COVID-19 Vaccine Which Neutralises Coronavirus in Human Cells: Reports.

On Wednesday, 684 coronavirus-related deaths were reported in Italy. Meanwhile, 23,225 more people contracted COVID-19 in Italy on Thursday. Till now, over 16.64 lakh people have been diagnosed with Coronavirus in the European country.  Italy was the first Western country hit by the virus.

Notably, Italy is currently facing the second wave of COVID-19. On Thursday, the European country announced national travel restrictions for the Christmas holidays to control the spread of COVID-19 during the festive season. The restrictions are imposed to limit the number of gatherings during the Christmas holidays. Travel restrictions between Italy’s areas will be prohibited from December 21 to January 6.

Italy's Health Minister Roberto Speranza asked people of the country not to let down guard against the deadly virus. A nationwide 10 pm curfew is likely to remain imposed in Italy. The country will retain the colour-coded risk-based system according to which, coronavirus restrictions are imposed in the regions depending upon the number of cases in each district.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 03, 2020 11:50 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).