Tedros praises how Italy and Spain have handled the coronavirus crisis.

Italy and Spain have been singled out by the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) as good examples of how to successfully contain the coronavirus.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director general, made his remarks on 1 July during a virtual conference on the covid-19 crisis.

"In March, Italy and Spain were the epicentre of the pandemic" - Tedros said - "At the peak of its epidemic, Spain had almost 10,000 cases a day, and Italy had more than 6,500 cases."

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However both countries, he said, managed to bring their epidemics "under control with a combination of leadership, humility, active participation by every member of society, and implementing a comprehensive approach. Both countries faced a daunting situation, but turned it around."

Pointing out that 60 per cent of the 10.3 million coronavirus cases worldwide have been reported in the past month alone, Tedros said: "One of the lessons of the pandemic is that no matter what situation a country is in, it can be turned around. It’s never too late."

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Italy recorded 187 new covid-19 cases on 1 July, up from 142 the day before, according to figures released by the Italian health ministry.

There were 21 coronavirus deaths recorded on 1 July, down slightly down from 23 the day before, reports ANSA.

The overall death toll in Italy is now 34,788.