The number of coronavirus cases in the in the northern region of Lombardy, which includes Italy's financial capital Milan, increased by some 2,500 on Thursday, regional governor Attilio Fontana said.
"Today's numbers are not good, unfortunately. There has been a steeper increase compared with previous days," Fontana told reporters, adding that preliminary figures showed that the total cases in the area had gone up by some 2,500 in one day.
The number of cases in the region, which has borne the brunt of Italy's contagion, increased by some 1,643 to roughly 32,346 on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Elvira Pollina, editing by Giulia Segreti)
