Italy's civil protection agency said 27 people had died since Monday, raising the total number of deaths due to the coronavirus to 79, according to AFP.

Most of the deaths — 55 — have been recorded in the northern Lombardy region around Milan, with Bologna's Emilia-Romagna region reporting 18 deaths.

Italy has 2,502 coronavirus cases in all, the most in any European country. Officials said they had carried out 25,856 tests.