“The Italian government asked us a few days ago whether we could help by taking care of patients who are not being taken care of in Italy,” Kretschmer said on Monday.

Following consultation with doctors over hospital capacity in the eastern German state, Saxony has agreed to welcome six Italian patients to hospitals in the cities of Dresden and Leipzig, he added.

An Italian military plane carrying the patients landed at the Leipzig/Halle airport early Tuesday morning.

The patients come from the particularly hard-hit Lombardy region of northern Italy, according to la Repubblica.

“In Italy they are now making an ethically very difficult decision…choosing six people to be put in the aeroplane,” said the state premier.

Kretschmer said that the treatment of Italian patients would be a chance for doctors in Saxony to learn about the novel coronavirus, and also a sign of solidarity.

“This is a very important sign that we are also able to help others,” he said.

German news agency DPA, meanwhile, reported without citing sources that a total of eight patients would be transported to Germany.

Italy has been the country worst hit by the novel coronavirus pandemic, with a world-topping death toll of over 6,000.

With its health service has been stretched to breaking point, other countries such as Russia and the Czech Republic have also offered aid.

Germany has over 29,000 confirmed cases according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University and the Robert Koch Institute for public health.

Saxony is one of the lesser affected of the country's 16 states, with 865 cases so far.

Last weekend, three other German states on the French border announced that they would take care of patients from the eastern region of France, which has also been badly hit by the outbreak.