Italy on Wednesday reported 475 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, the highest one-day official toll of any nation since the first case was detected in China late last year, AFP reports.
Total deaths in Italy have reached 2,978, more than half of all the cases recorded outside China, while the number of infections stood at 35,713.
The previous record high of 368 deaths was also recorded in Italy, on Sunday.
The nation of 60 million has now recorded 34.2 percent of all the deaths officially attributed to COVID-19 across the world.
With the death rate still climbing despite the Mediterranean country entering a second week under effective lockdown, officials urged Italians to have faith and to stay strong.
"They main thing is, do not give up," Italian National Institute of Health chief Silvio Brusaferro said in a nationally televised press conference.
"It will take a few days before we see the benefits" of containment measures, said Brusaferro.
"We must maintain these measures to see their effect, and above all to protect the most vulnerable."
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte last week added new restrictions to the lockdown imposed to fight the coronavirus.
In a televised address to the nation, Conte said all shops would be shuttered except supermarkets, food stores and chemists, and companies must close all their departments that are not essential to production.
Previously, Conte extended restrictions on travel from the north to entire country. He issued a new government decree requiring all people in Italy to demonstrate a need to work, health conditions or other limited reasons to travel outside the areas where they live.