The coronanvirus is "an invisible enemy" in a shared battle that must be fought by the whole world, Italy's foreign minister Luigi Di Maio told G7 counterparts in a videoconference on Thursday.
"The coronavirus emergency must be tackled at global level. In past weeks, other countries have recognised that Italy's approach should be followed," Di Maio wrote on Facebook during the videoconference.
He was referring to the strict national lockdown in place in Italy since 10 March.
"I will repeat to my colleagues that we are fighting a war against an invisible yet common enemy," the post went on.
The coronavirus pandemic requires "cohesion" from all countries, Di Maio argued.
"We can only win out together," he said.
Worldwide, the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in nearly 439,000 cases of Covid-19 and over 19,600 deaths according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
Italy has recorded more deaths from Covid-19 than any other country including China - at 7,503 deaths - and 57,521 people have tested positive for the virus, according to the civil protection agency.
However, Covid-19 cases are now spiralling in many countries most recently in the US, Britain and Spain, where there are fears the outbreaks could become worse than Italy's.
