Coronavirus cases in Italy cross 10,000

The number of people infected with coronavirus (COVID-19) in Italy has crossed 10,000 with the death toll in the fast-spreading virus rising to 631.

Country’s death toll has risen by 168 people in the space of 24 hours.

The increase in the nation's death toll marks the highest rate of fatalities so far for the Mediterranean nation which has been the worst affected country in Europe since initial cases were first reported on 31 January.

Officials in Rome added the number of those infected had broken into five figures - with 10,149 testing positive for Covid-19 compared to 9,172 the previous day.

The nation's Civil Protection Agency added that, of those originally infected, 1,004 had fully recovered compared to 724 the day before. Some 877 people were in intensive care against a previous 733.

It comes after the nation introduced some of the most stringent quarantine policies in the world - with the entire country facing travel restrictions and all public gatherings cancelled.

Restaurants and cafes must also close by dusk under government rules, while schools and universities will remain shut until 3 April at the earliest.

"We have adopted a new decision based on an assumption: that there is no time", the nation's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told citizens in a press conference last night.

Dhaka/Ismail Hossain Swapon/AI