Italy on Wednesday reported another 475 fatalities from the coronavirus, taking the total death toll to 2,978, with an increase of 19%.

This was the biggest jump in numerical terms since the contagion broke out last month, officials said Wednesday.

The total number of infections in Italy, the European country hit hardest by the virus, rose to 35,713 from a previous 31,506, up 13.35%, the Civil Protection Agency said.

Of those originally infected, 4,025 had fully recovered compared to 2,941 the day before. However, some 2,257 people were in intensive care against a previous 2,060.