The UK's coronavirus death toll today is exactly the same as Italy's was two weeks ago.
Italy has recorded almost 800 coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours.
Almost 5,000 have now died in the country, meaning more have passed away there than in China, where the outbreak began.
Today, Italy's fatalities jumped by 793 to 4,825 in the country's largest one-day rise since the contagion emerged a month ago.
The UK's death toll hit 233 today, with Italy reaching this number on March 7.
"What we all understand is that no member state can face this threat alone. The virus has no borders and the European Union is stronger when we show full solidarity," EU Commission head Ursula von der Leyen told Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper.
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Reported infections in Italy rose to 53,578 from 47,021, the Civil Protection Agency said. There were 2,857 people in intensive care, up from 2,655.
Late on Friday the EU Commission moved to formalise a deal reached by EU finance ministers on March 5 to suspend EU budget rules that limit borrowing, giving hardest-hit Italy and other governments a free hand to fight the disease.
Italy's failure to reduce its huge debt of 134% of gross domestic product would normally have drawn a rebuke from the EU executive, but von der Leyen said there were now other priorities.
"The Italian government will be able to put as much money into the economy as needed. Normal budget rules, debt rules for example, will not be applied at this stage," she said.
Brussels is expected next week to unveil a plan for using the euro zone's bailout fund, known as the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), which could unlock unlimited sovereign bond purchases by the European Central Bank.
"This work is ongoing," Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said in an interview with Reuters.
