ITALY has overtaken China for the number of coronavirus deaths after 427 more died from the disease.
The country has now seen 3,405 people die from the coronavirus, which began in the Chinese city of Wuhan, and 99 per cent of them had pre-existing medical conditions.
Wednesday saw coronavirus deaths surge by 475 in Italy, the highest daily increase yet recorded since the first case of the disease emerged there on February 21.
The total number of cases in Italy has now risen to 41,035 from a previous 35,713, up 14 per cent, a faster rate of growth than seen over the last three days, the Civil Protection Agency said.
But Italy has far fewer overall confirmed cases than China - 41,035 against 80,907.
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Italian troops outside the central cemetery in virus-stricken BergamoCredit: Rex Features
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Military vehicles are now ferrying corpses to cities across northern ItalyCredit: @basedpoland
Officials and experts believe the total number of infections is significantly higher, with testing largely limited to those arriving for hospital care.
"We're working in a state of very high stress and tension," said Daniela Confalonieri, a nurse at a hospital in Milan, the capital of the wealthy northern region of Lombardy, which has been the epicentre of the epidemic.
"Unfortunately we can't contain the situation in Lombardy. There's a high level of contagion and we're not even counting the dead any more."
Medical experts say the new virus is killing people over 65 at a much higher rate than other age groups.
Italy has the worlds second-oldest population and 87 per cent of those who died were over 70.
Analysis by the country's National Institutes of Health found 99 per cent of the 355 fatalities evaluated had pre-existing medical conditions.
Nearly half the victims suffered from at least one of high blood pressure, diabetes or heart disease.
More than 75 per cent reported high blood pressure, while 35 per cent had diabetes and 33 per cent had heart disease, according to the study.
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Some cities in Italy are struggling to cope with the death rate from the coronavirusCredit: Luigi Avantaggiato 2019
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Cemetery workers and funeral agency workers in protective masks transport a coffin in BergamoCredit: Reuters
The grim news comes as troops have begun removing bodies from areas of Lombardy which can no longer cope with the numbers dying.
Army vehicles have been brought in to transport dozens of coffins from Bergamo to cities and towns across the north of Italy.
"The crematorium of Bergamo, working at full capacity, 24 hours a day, can cremate 25 dead", said a spokesperson for the local authority.
"It is clear that it could not stand up to the numbers of the past few days."
The dead are now being taken to crematoria in Modena, Acqui Terme, Domodossola, Parma and Piacenza.
Once the bodies have been cremated, the ashes will be brought back to Bergamo.
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A man in a protective mask transports a coffin inside a cemetery in BergamoCredit: Reuters
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Coffins being wheeled into the morgue of Ponte San Pietro Hospital in the Province of BergamoCredit: Represented by ZUMA Press, Inc.
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The morgue of the Ponte San Pietro Hospital, where bodies of victims are prepared for burialCredit: Represented by ZUMA Press, Inc.
Brother Marco Bergamelli, a priest at All Saints church in Bergamo, told how the church could not cope with the demand.
"Unfortunately, we don't know where to put them (the bodies)," Bergamelli said. "It takes time and the dead are many."
Crematoriums are said to be working 24 hours a day but just cannot keep up.
"It's as if you were asking what to do if an atomic bomb explodes," Dr Antonio Pesenti, the head of Lombardy's intensive crisis care unit, told the .
"You declare defeat. We'll try to salvage what's salvageable."
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Deserted streets in Pisa, Italy which has been in lockdown as the government battles the coronavirusCredit: Getty Images - Getty
Scientists have produced a day-by-day breakdown of the typical Covid-19 symptoms
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Doctors in Italy have warned the country is facing a “catastrophic” situation.
More than 2,600 medical workers have now been infected in Italy - more than eight per cent of the country's total cases.
The figures were released by a health foundation which said the 'huge number' of infected medics showed that procedures and protection equipment for doctors were 'still inadequate'
Italy’s doctors have described patients who would normally be in intensive care having to be left on wards without the equipment or staff to properly treat them.
Among the hospitals struggling to cope is the 950-bed Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital in Bergamo.
It is in the region of Lombardy in the north, which was the first region in the country to be locked down as the crisis first got underway.
Almost half the hospital's beds are currently occupied by coronavirus patients, and three of its four most senior staff are currently at home ill.
Speaking to the , an intensive care specialist Mirco Nacoti at the hospital, said: "Until three weeks ago, we did everything for every patient.
"Now we have to choose which patients to put in intensive care. This is catastrophic."
Coronavirus leaves Italian morgues overflowing with corpses as death toll hits 2,158
