Italy reported 475 new deaths on Wednesday, the biggest increase since the outbreak started and the highest one-day total posted by any nation.

France also reported a spike in deaths - rising by 89, or 51%, to a total of 264 in 24 hours.

Elsewhere, hundreds of millions of people faced a world turned upside down by unprecedented emergency measures against the coronavirus pandemic that is killing the old and vulnerable and threatening prolonged economic misery.