New Prime Minister Mario Draghi warned of further grief in the coming days as hospitalisations jumped.
One year ago, Italy imposed the first coronavirus lockdown of any European country but now, after months of a plateau in daily cases, there has been a steady climb in new infections.
And experts say the country should be braced for a new peak of infections in about two weeks, warning that daily cases could reach as high as 40,000 unless more severe restrictions of citizens' movement and activities are swiftly put into place.
In response to the rising cases of COVID-19, the authorities are placing three more regions under tighter restrictions.
Two in the north of the country - Friuli Venezia Giulia and Veneto - will be raised to orange zones. While the Campania region, which includes Naples, will be re-classified as a red zone, the highest-risk level.
Among the hard-hit places in Italy is the Milan suburb of Bollate, where the virus swept through a nursery school and an adjacent elementary school with alarming speed. In a matter of just days, 45 children and 14 staff members tested positive.
Genetic analysis confirmed it was the highly contagious variant first identified in England late last year. The surge is leading to new restrictions across the continent.
Dr Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, has said the spread of variants is driving an increase in infections in Europe increase, but so is “the opening of society, when it is not done in a safe and a controlled manner.”
The British variant is spreading significantly in 27 European countries monitored by WHO and is dominant in at least 10 by the agency’s count: Britain, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Israel, Spain and Portugal.
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