(ANSA) - ROME, 13 AGO - Agostino Miozzo, the coordinator of the CTS panel of experts advising the government on the coronavirus emergency, on Thursday warned that local lockdowns "may become inevitable if the situation gets out of hand".
Italy has seen an increase in COVID-19 contagion in recent weeks, with the number of new cases registered each day going from around 200-300 to 400-500.
Miozzo said the danger exists because "there is always a party to dance at, a barbecue to have or a funeral to hold".
"400 cases a day are neither many nor few," he added. "It tells us that the virus is here and it is present all over the country.
"We still have a manageable situation. But it is a precarious situation and the quantum leap can be very fast and that is the real risk".
He also said that Italy's night clubs and discos "must stay closed".
"Mass gatherings are devastating, impossible to manage" he said.
Miozzo also stressed, on the other hand, that another national lockdown was "decidedly improbable".
(ANSA).