A total of 67 Italian priests infected with the novel coronavirus have died since the pandemic reached the Mediterranean country last month, the Avvenire newspaper said on Wednesday.

The youngest of those listed by the Catholic Church-affiliated paper was 53.

“Priests get sick and die like everybody else, maybe even more than the rest,” the Avvenire wrote.

The paper said 22 of the fatalities were in the Bergamo diocese, at the heart of the outbreak not far from the financial centre Milan.

Pope Francis asked priests “to have the courage to go out and see the sick” when the pandemic was gathering strength across the country on March 10.

Also on Wednesday the death toll from  coronavirus in the northern region of Lombardy, which has borne the brunt of Italy’s contagion, has risen by around 296 in a day to some 4,474, a source familiar with the data said on Wednesday.

The figure is down sharply compared to some 402 deaths on Tuesday. If confirmed, it will be the lowest daily death toll in Lombardy since March 19.

The number of cases in the region, which includes Italy’s financial capital Milan, increased by some 1,643 to roughly 32,346, the source said.

The nationwide tally will be released around 6.00 p.m. (1700 GMT). On Tuesday, the national death toll stood at 6,820, the highest in the world, the highest so far globally.