Coronavirus update: 74,386 confirmed cases in Italy, French death toll rises to 1,331

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 infections in Italy rose to 74,386 on Wednesday from 69,176, the Civil Protection Agency reported. The death toll in the country increased by 683 to 7,503.

On a positive note, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted that the commitment of the Italian government was incredible and added that they were seeing "some good signals" now on the ground.

In the meantime, the death toll in France rose to 1,331 from 1,100, a public health official reported. 

Elsewhere, Canada's Deputy Chief Medical Officer announced that there were 3,197 confirmed coronavirus cases and 27 fatalities as of Wednesday.

Market sentiment

Despite these developments, the risk-on flows continue to dominate the financial markets on Wednesday. As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were adding 4.7% and 3.5%, respectively.