Italy on Thursday overtook China's coronavirus death total and braced for an extended lockdown that could see the economy suffer its biggest shock since World War II.
The Mediterranean country's toll reached 3,405 after it recorded 427 new deaths on Wednesday.
China has officially reported 3,245 deaths since registering the first case at the end of last year.
The number of new COVID-19 cases is yet to plateau despite the Italian government's best efforts.
Army trucks delivered new coffins Thursday to a cemetery in the northern Italian city of Bergamo that suddenly finds itself at the global heart of the unfolding disaster.
Burials were taking place 30 minutes apart to avoid contagion through crowds.
Masked undertakers wrapped from head to toe in white suits carted the coffins on gurneys to speed up the process.
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Italy's ANSA news agency said the deaths of two more doctors in the nearby town of Como west of Bergamo on Thursday brought the total number of medics killed by the new disease to 13.
"Use your common sense and act with utmost caution," Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told Italians.
"We are not underestimating anything and always acting based on the worst-case scenario."
He said no new restrictions were being considered but warned: "If our prohibitions are not respected, we will have to act."