Italy's death toll from the coronavirus outbreak eclipsed China's on Thursday as the scourge extended its march across the West, where the United States and other countries increasingly enlisted the military and improvised at every turn to get ready for an onslaught of patients.

The Chinese city where the coronavirus first took hold reported no new homegrown cases Thursday, while the death toll in Italy was poised to overtake that of China in a dramatic illustration of how the outbreak has pivoted toward Europe and the United States.