Italy braced on Thursday for an extended lockdown that could see the economy suffer its biggest shock since World War II from a pandemic that has killed almost as many people as it has in China.
The country's toll from the novel coronavirus reached 2,978 after it recorded 475 new deaths on Wednesday -- the highest official one-day figure in the world.
China reported no new deaths for the first time on Thursday and Italy was on course to overtake its 3,245 fatalities later in the day.
COVID-19 infections are yet to plateau despite the Italian government's best efforts.
Army trucks delivered freshly-made coffins on Thursday to a cemetery in the northern Italian city of Bergamo that suddenly finds itself at the global heart of the unfolding disaster.
Burials were being conducted every half hour to avoid contagion through crowds.
Masked undertakers wrapped from head to toe in white suits carted the coffins on gurneys to speed up the process.
"Use your common sense and act with utmost caution," Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told Italians.
"We are not underestimating anything and always acting based on the worst-case scenario."
"But if our prohibitions are not respected, we will have to act."
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