Italy Reports 651 New Virus Fatalities, Toll Nears 5,500: Government

Medical workers in overalls stretch a patient under intensive care into the newly built Columbus Covid 2 temporary hospital to fight the new coronavirus infection, at the Gemelli hospital in Rome, Italy, on March 16, 2020. Andreas Solaro /AFP via Getty Images

A day after reporting nearly 800 deaths in 24 hours, Italian health authorities confirmed Sunday that 651 people have died from the coronavirus.

The head of the country’s Civil Protection agency, in making the grim announcement, said the total number of CCP virus deaths has risen to 5,476.