Italy on Monday reported 349 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, taking its total since last month to 2,158, the most after China.

The number of official COVID-19 fatalities has more than doubled since Thursday, when Italy's toll topped 1,000 for the first time. Italy now has 27,980 infections, compared to 15,113 four days ago.

The country reported 368 new coronavirus fatalities in its daily bulletin Sunday, the largest death toll increase since the start of the outbreak on Feb. 20.

Compared to Saturday, the death toll has risen by more than 25% to 1,809, and infections were up by 17% to reach 24,747. The fatality rate, particularly high in Italy, is 7.3%.

The number of patients in intensive care – a closely watched figure given the shortage of hospital beds in frontline regions – rose by about 10%, to 1,672, including 767 in Lombardy.

Lombardy, which surrounds Milan, is the region worst hit by the outbreak, with 13,272 cases and 1,218 deaths. In Lazio, the region that includes Rome, cases increased by 22% to 436.