ROME: Italy’s death toll from the novel coronavirus shot past 10,000 on Saturday with 889 new deaths, the country’s civil protection service said.

The toll in Italy, which has suffered more deaths than any other country, now stands at 10,023.

An additional 5,974 infections brought to 92,472 the number of people who have officially tested positive for COVID-19 in Italy since the crisis began last month, AFP reported.

Officials have warned that the peak of the crisis was still days away, as the global infection rate surges relentlessly upwards.

With more than 300,000 people infected in Europe alone, the disease shows few signs of slowing, and has already cast the world into a recession, economists say. The death toll from the epidemic sweeping the globe surged past 20,000 in Europe on Saturday.

(With inputs from agencies)