⁍ Italy has registered 31,084 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours.

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⁍ Highest daily tally since start of epidemic and up from previous record of 26,831.

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⁍ A total of 38,321 people have now died in Italy because of coronavirus.

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– An outbreak of coronavirus has killed at least 38 people in Italy, making it the second-highest death toll in Europe after Britain. The country’s health ministry said Friday that 31,084 new cases of the virus were reported over the past 24 hours, its highest daily tally since the start of the epidemic and up from the previous record of 26,831 posted on Thursday, Reuters reports. The ministry also reported 199 COVID-related deaths, compared with 217 the day before. A total of 38,321 people have now died in Italy because of coronavirus, the second highest death toll in Europe after Britain’s, while 647,674 cases of the disease have been registered to date. The northern region of Lombardy, centered on Italy’s financial capital Milan, remained the hardest hit area, reporting 8,960 new cases on Friday against 7,339 on Thursday. The southern Campania region was the second-worst affected, chalking up 3,186 cases. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte imposed restrictions on business activity last week, ordering bars and restaurants to close at 6pm and shutting gyms, cinemas, and theaters, among other measures. Conte has repeatedly said he wants to avoid a new national lockdown that would wreck the already fragile economy, but the law gives the leaders of Italy’s 20 regions leeway to establish their own curbs. On Friday, the small Valle d’Aosta region, at the border with France, imposed a nighttime curfew from 9pm to 5am.