Italians told to stand one metre away from each other in all public spaces in bid to stop coronavirus spreading

The death toll in Italy jumped to 52 yesterday from 34 the day before and the total number of confirmed cases in Europe's worst affected country climbed to 2,036.

The one-metre rule will also apply to pubs, shops and churches and is based on a study of how far saliva droplets can travel when they are released into the air as people talk, The Times have reported. 

Other measures by Italy's health authorities include a ban on public gatherings and school closures in the north. The three worst-hit regions - Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna - have extended the closure of schools for another week. 

Ten per cent of virus patients in Italy were in intensive care with respiratory problems, the health chief of the Lombardy region in northern Italy has said.