In Campania, the southern region including Naples, people must wear masks at all times when outside, Regional President Vincenzo De Luca wrote on Thursday on Facebook.

The rule is valid until October 4 and is not applicable to children under 6, nor to people eating in bars and restaurants or practising sports or exercising, he said.

Similar rules were adopted late on Wednesday for the historical centre of Genoa, a northwestern port city known for having tiny alleys in which distancing is harder to respect.

The Liguria region, which has Genoa as its capital, also extended until Sunday tougher restrictions including school closures for the city and province of La Spezia, a virus hotspot.

In the rest of Italy masks have to be worn outside from 6pm to 6am in places where physical distancing is not possible, like public squares where people assemble at night.

The rule has been in place since mid-August.

After being overwhelmed by the pandemic in March and April, Italy has recently won plaudits for being more successful than other European countries in keeping contagion rates under control.

However, virus cases have been increasing since mid-July.

On Thursday, the health ministry reported 1786 new infections compared to a low of 114 on July 14.

Total infections reached 304,323 and the overall death toll rose by 23 to 35,781.

Numbers are rising because Italy is testing more people.

Thursday's figure of 108,019 virus swabs conducted in the previous 24 hours was a record.

According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Italy has reported 34.7 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the last 14 days.

By comparison, Spain has had 320, France 204.5 and Germany 27.3.

"Today the situation in Italy is definitely better compared to other European countries, and we are more prepared - also as a health system - to face a possible new wave," Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said in an interview with La Stampa newspaper.

Australian Associated Press