ROME (REUTERS) - The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has risen to 34, five more than a day earlier, officials said on Sunday (March 1), as the government prepared to boost spending to help the fragile economy.

The head of Italy's Civil Protection Agency said the cumulative number of confirmed cases of the virus had jumped to 1,694 from 1,128 on Saturday, virtually all of them coming to light since Feb 20 in the worst such contagion in Europe.