AKIPRESS.COM - At least 631 people have now died from coronavirus in Italy - an increase of 168 in a single day, Sky News reports.

The 36% rise is the biggest since the COVID-19 contagion first came to light there on 21 February.

Almost a thousand extra cases of coronavirus were recorded in 24 hours - reaching 10,149.

The head of the country's civil protection agency said 877 people were in intensive care - up from 733 on Monday.

Just over 1,000 have now fully recovered.

Italy already had Europe's worst outbreak and experts are warning that the peak of the spread may not arrive until mid-April in the north - so far the country's hardest hit area - and possibly later in other regions.

"Citizens must know that this is not about changing their lifestyle just for one or two weeks," said the head of the national centre for epidemiology, Stefania Salmaso.