Italy's COVID Rt transmission number and the incidence of cases were both reported to be significantly up Friday compared to a week a go.
The RT was up to 0.91 from 0.66 last week.
The incidence was up to 19 cases per 1,000 inhabitants, from 11 last week.
The figures were contained in the weekly monitoring report from the Higher Health Institute (ISS) and the health ministry.
The monitoring report also found that infections among young people were on the rise, with cases often asymptomatic.
"The Delta variant is running fast," said Gianni Rezza, the health ministry's prevention director, at the presentation of the monitoring report.
"It is 60% more transmissible than the Alpha variant.
"This virus is more contagious than last summer's and at the moment it is primarily hitting young people".
ISS President Silvio Brusaferro said the upswing in cases meant that many regions were now considered moderate risk and no longer low risk.
"Fortunately, at the moment, the impact of the illness on hospital admissions remains minimal," Brusaferro said.
"The Delta variant is destined to grow and in other counties it is leading to a big increase in the number of new new cases.
"So it is important to trace contracts and plan quarantines and it is opportune to achieve vaccinate coverage with the double dose as soon as possible". Meanwhile, dozens of young Italian people found themselves trapped abroad, in Greece, Malta, Dubai and other countries, due to a rise in infections linked to the Delta variant.
The World Health Organization warned about possible virus mutations that will be even more dangerous than the current ones.
The Italian government is considering expanding the scope of the Green Pass, using it for access to long-distance travel on flights, trains, ferries and coaches, as part of the effort to combat a resurgence in COVID-19 contagion due to the spread of the Delta variant, sources said on Thursday.
The green certificate, which shows that someone is vaccinated for the coronavirus, has recovered from it or has recently tested negative, is currently necessary to travel abroad and for access to certain events, such as weddings, sporting events, concerts, and in order to visit care homes.
There have been calls for Italy to follow the example of France, where the green pass will be obligatory to enter places of culture where there are over 50 people soon and will then also be necessary to access bars, restaurants, shopping centres, trains, coaches and aeroplanes in August. Premier Mario Draghi's government will consider making the green pass obligatory for long-distance travel at a meeting of its COVID-19 'control room' taskforce on Monday or Tuesday, the sources said.
Furthermore, for some activities the green pass will only be valid when a person has had two vaccine doses, in line with how the pass is being used in the rest of the EU.
At the moment people in Italy also get a version of the green pass after the first dose.
Health Minister Roberto Speranza said Wednesday that 28.4 million green cards had been downloaded from the ministry's website.
The aim of expanding the use of the green pass would be to prevent the need for restrictions to be reimposed to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
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