The Mediterranean country's daily rate of fatalities is now higher than that officially reported by China at the peak of its outbreak around Wuhan's Hubei province.
But Matteo Bassetti of Italy's prestigious San Martino clinic in Genoa said the government probably had no idea how many people really had the new disease.
"There are so many people walking around who have the virus and who are at risk of infecting others," Bassetti told Italy's AGI news agency.
"The 40,000 cases we are talking about (in Italy) could actually be 100 times higher."
Italy is rapidly notching up one grim record after the next as it becomes the new global epicentre of Covid-19.
In less than four weeks, it has recorded more deaths than China officially registered since reporting its first infection to the World Health Organization in late December.
Italy has seen more than 1,500 deaths from Covid-19 in the past three days alone. The total number of deaths now stands at 4,032. Infections rose Friday by nearly 6,000 -- another international record -- to 47,021.
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UK begins shutdown
Prime Minister Boris Johnson effectively closed down the United Kingdom on Friday, ordering pubs, restaurants, theatres, cinemas and gyms to shut their doors in a bid to slow down the accelerating spread of the coronavirus.
Johnson said he understood just how wrenching it was to take away the ancient rights of the British people but that it was absolutely essential to slow the spread of Covid-19.
“I do accept that what we’re doing is extraordinary: we’re taking away the ancient, inalienable right of free-born people of the United Kingdom to go to the pub, and I can understand how people feel about that,” Johnson said. “It’s a huge wrench.”
We are telling cafes, pubs, bars and restaurants to close tonight as soon as they reasonably can, and not to open tomorrow.
— Boris Johnson #StayHomeSaveLives (@BorisJohnson) March 20, 2020
As far as possible we want you to stay at home.
That’s how we can protect our NHS and save lives.
➡ https://t.co/kdHUGOW5he pic.twitter.com/8Hko4bfBnh
The United Kingdom so far has 3,983 confirmed cases of coronavirus, after 66,976 people were tested, though the government’s scientists say it is raging across London, partly as some people are not obeying government advice to isolate.
At total of 177 people with the virus have died so far across the country.
(with wires)
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