Italy's daily coronavirus death toll shot up to 636 on Monday, just one day after dropping to its lowest level in over two weeks, the civil protection service said.

The number of fatalities had fallen to 525 on Sunday, the lowest since March 19. Italy's total number of deaths officially attributed to COVID-19 rose to 16,523, more than in any other country.

The new coronavirus has killed more than 70,000 people across the globe, the majority in Europe. Out of a total of 70,009 killed in the pandemic, 50,215 are in Europe, according to figures compiled from official government data and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Italy is leading the global death toll with 15,877 fatalities, followed by Spain with 13,055 and France with 8,078.