People wearing face masks walk on a street in Rome, Italy, on March 12, 2020.(Photo by Elisa Lingria/Xinhua)

Italy on Saturday registered a new record high in the daily official number of fatalities linked to the COVID-19, while thousands of doctors answered a public call to be temporarily enrolled in hospitals to help colleagues fight the epidemic.

RECORD HIGH DAILY FATALITIES

According to the latest data provided by the Civil Protection Department managing the emergency, the country counted now 42,681 active infections.

The death toll rose to 4,825, after the epidemic claimed 793 more lives. It was the highest daily increase so far seen both at domestic and at global level.

According to the latest report issued by Italy's National Health Institute (ISS) on Saturday, the vast majority concerned people over-70 (35.6 percent of all deaths) and over-80 (40.5 percent) with underlying health issues, which confirmed a trend seen since the beginning of the outbreak here.

During a daily press conference to update the situation, Civil Protection Chief Angelo Borrelli -- who serves also as extraordinary commissioner for the coronavirus emergency -- noted recoveries were steadily growing as well. The total number reached 6,072, after 943 more people were declared cured in the day.

Considering all data, the total cumulative number of infected cases in the country was 53,578.

"As for the 42,681 people (currently) positive, some 22,116 of them are under home confinement -- because asymptomatic or with symptoms that do not require hospital treatment -- another 17,708 are hospitalized, and 2,857 in intensive care," Borrelli told reporters.

VIRUS SPREADING "STILL HIGH"

At the same press conference, ISS president Silvio Brusaferro explained that "the virus circulation remains high and in particular across those areas already under pressure."

"The spreading of the COVID-19 is being detected across other areas, of course, yet still in limited numbers," said Brusaferro.

"The main reason behind the tough restrictions so far imposed on people's movements is exactly to avoid the virus to spread across the whole country as it is doing in the most affected areas," Brusaferro explained, renewing a warning to all citizens to strictly follow restrictions.

"Without such mechanisms, we will not be able to slow down the virus spreading," the ISS chief stressed.

With multiple and increasingly tough provisions since early March, Italian authorities have imposed various restrictions, including the closure of schools, a ban on all public events and gatherings, strong restrictions on personal movements, and the shutdown of most retail and business activities.

In a latest effort to further discourage the people movement -- with the double aim of limiting the spreading and avoiding overload on the public health system -- all public parks and gardens across the country have been closed starting from Saturday morning, following a specific Health Ministry's order.

OVER 3,500 DOCTORS VOLUNTEERING

Meanwhile, an extraordinary appeal launched by the government on Friday for at least 300 additional physicians to be voluntarily enrolled in the emergency task force has received a ten-time higher response in less than 24 hours.

"Over 3,500 doctors have so far answered our call, and this number is still growing by the hour," Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte wrote on Facebook on Saturday.

"(This is) a strong signal of solidarity and sense of duty, which once again proves the extraordinary courage of our national community in such a difficult time, and it is the umptieth proof of a generosity of which all of us Italians should be proud of," he wrote.

The extra staff would be attached to the Civil Protection Department task force, and deployed in the regions under heavy pressure, starting with Lombardy -- the most affected so far -- Regional Affairs Minister Enrico Costa explained in a press conference on Friday evening while launching the appeal.

A small but positive signal emerged from the daily official update concerning the situation in Lombardy, where "about 20 percent of all patients so far treated in intensive care have been dismissed," according to Lombardy's Welfare Councillor Giulio Gallera.

"The average time spent in intensive care here is between 15 and 20 days, and we are starting to see a significant number of people who overcomes (the infection) positively," Gallera said in a press briefing broadcast live on Facebook.

The official explained the Lombardy region overall counted now 25,515 people positive (3,251 new cases on the daily basis), of which 8,258 hospitalized (523 new cases), 1,093 in intensive care.

The regional death toll reached 3,095, with a daily increase of 546 cases.