Italy also reported 91 coronavirus deaths on Friday.
The governor of Campania, Vincenzo De Luca, has asked the government for a national lockdown and has announced he will close the region “for 30 to 40 days” to mitigate the spread of the virus.
“Said in a brutally clear way, I don’t want to find ourselves in front of military trucks that carry hundreds of coffins,” De Luca said in a video message.
The governor of Lombardy, Attilio Fontana, said it is a “dramatic situation.”
One hundred scientists have written an open letter to Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte asking for “drastic measures” to be taken in the next two to three days.