Italy recorded almost 33,000 new infections in the last 24 hours to reach 1,028,424 in total since the pandemic began, according to health ministry figures.

 

Deaths are also rising fast, with another 623 reported, taking the total to 42,953.

 

 

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte's government last week brought in a nationwide overnight curfew and early closing for bars and restaurants, shutting them altogether and further restricting residents' movements in regions where the infection rates are highest.

 

 

Several regions, including hard/hit Lombardy, have been declared “red zones” and placed under rules similar to those seen in lockdown.

 

But medical experts are pushing for tougher national measures, amid warnings that health services are already buckling under the pressure.

 

Massimo Galli, the head of the infectious diseases department at Milan's renowned Sacco hospital, warned on Monday the situation was “largely out of control”.

 

Italian media reports the government is looking at whether or not lockdown may now be necessary.

 

In an interview with La Stampa newspaper on Wednesday, Conte said he was working “to avoid the closure of the entire national territory”.

 

“We are constantly monitoring the evolution of the contagion, the reactivity and the capacity of our health system to respond,” he said.

 

“Above all we are confident that we will soon see the effects of the restrictive measures already adopted.”

 

Italy is the 10th country to pass the million cases mark, after the United States, India, Brazil, Russia, France, Spain, Argentina, the United Kingdom and Colombia, according to an AFP tally.