ROME, March 8 (CNA)- Italy's death toll from the novel coronavirus rose by 36 to 233 on Saturday (Mar 7) while the number of infections shot up by a single-day record of 1,247 to hit 5,883.

Italy has recorded the most deaths of any country outside China and the third-most COVID-19 infections after China and South Korea.

All 22 Italian regions have now registered cases and one new death was reported Friday in the Lazio region that includes Rome and its outskirts. Of those originally infected, 589 have fully recovered and on Friday, the government approved a plan to employ up to 20,000 new doctors and nurses to respond to the emergency.

Data showed that the northern regions of Lombardia, Emilia Romagna and Veneto were the hardest hit, representing 85 per cent of national cases overall and 92 per cent of recorded deaths.