Foreign minister Luigi Di Maio on Tuesday called on members of the fractious centre-left coalition government to overcome political divisions and work together to tackle Italy's growing coronavirus emergency.
"It is the moment to tackle this emergency with maximum commitment and seriousness. We don't need polemics, we just need to get down to work," Di Maio stated.
Italy's diplomatic network and the foreign ministry's crisis unit is "working around the clock" to Di Maio went on.
"It is vital to act, and to disseminate accurate information on the coronavirus - also abroad," Di Maio underlined.
Italy has Europe's highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases - at least 283. There have been seven coronavirus deaths in recent days in northern Italy where almost all the cases have occurred - particularly in the Lombardy and Veneto regions.
Italian authorities have declared a state of emergency and announced a series of drastic measures in recent days to try to contain the outbreak.
All school trips have been stopped until mid-March and the government is considering the closure of the country's schools owing to the outbreak.
Global cases of the coronavirus have topped 80,000, the vast majority in China, although the disease has been confirmed in over 10 countries.
