Coronavirus: Italy death toll surges to 743

Italy has reported 743 new coronavirus deaths, as cases increased by 5,249 on Tuesday.

Active cases in Italy now total 54,030.

On Monday, Italy saw its number of deaths drop for the second day in a row, with deaths caused by Covid-19 now totalling 6,820 on Tuesday.

Spain also recorded a high death toll, with the total number of deaths related to the coronavirus tallying to 514.

6,600 new cases of Covid-19 were also recorded.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also announced measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19, with 1.3 billion people going into lockdown from midnight on Tuesday.

More than 17,100 people have died from COVID-19 worldwide, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. Nearly 103,000 of the 392,000 people who have been diagnosed with the disease have recovered.