Hundreds More Infected of Covid-19 in Italy and South Korea

South Korea confirmed 144 more cases of Covid-19 Tuesday and the number of deaths to 10 as both the Asian country and Italy now with 322 top the charts of infected cases outside of China. 

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The number of infected patients rose to 977, after 144 more cases were reported after one day. The Korean Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) has been updating the data twice a day at 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. local time.

Virus infections skyrocketed last week, with 802 new cases reported Wednesday through Monday. The country raised its four-level virus alert to the highest level on Sunday.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited Daegu City in the southeast of the country, where half of the virus infections have occurred and stressed that the spread of the virus into and out of the region must be prevented.

In Europe, Italy's Health Minister Roberto Speranza has also said that neighbouring European countries will not close their borders, in the midst of the outbreak of the new coronavirus.

Speranza's statements come after Rome confirmed 11 people dead as a result of the epidemic, with hundreds infected.

"We agreed to keep the borders open, closing the borders would be a disproportionate and ineffective measure at this time," the health official told reporters in Rome on Tuesday.

On the same day, four more people infected with the deadly virus died in northern Italy, bringing the death toll in the Mediterranean country to 11. Three of the dead were in their 80s and came from Lombardy, the most affected region in Italy, Civil Protection agency chief Angelo Borrelli told reporters.

In addition to the deaths, Italian authorities confirmed more than 90 new cases of the disease on Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases in Italy to 322.

As of Tuesday, the virus has now infected more than 80,000 globally, killing at least 2,700.