Italy recorded a shocking spike in coronavirus deaths Friday with 969 new victims, the worst daily record for any country since the pandemic began.
The infection rate however continued its downward trend, with the civil protection agency reporting nearly 86,500 confirmed cases in Italy -- a 7.4 percent increase, down from around 8.0 percent in previous days.
A member of the medical staff in a protective suit is seen in front of a patient suffering from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in an intensive care unit at the San Raffaele hospital in Milan