The governor of an autonomous Italian Alpine province famed for its ski resorts has declared it a red zone, shutting down most non-essential shops, barring cafes and restaurants from serving meals and forbidding citizens to leave their towns except for essential reasons like work.

Bolzano Province Governor Arno Kompatscher said he decided to order the crackdown as ICU beds started rapidly filling up with Covid-19 patients, AP reported.

"We could add 100 ICU beds," the governor said, "but we can only hold up to a certain point". He noted that the province needed more doctors and nurses.

Italy registered some 7,000 fewer new Covid-19 cases compared to the previous days increase, but nearly 40,000 fewer swab tests to detect the coronavirus were conducted in the last 24 hours.