Italy's coronavirus lockdown will be extended beyond the current term of April 3, Premier Giuseppe Conte said Thursday.
The premier said restrictive measures were working and even when the epidemic starts falling from its peak "we won't be able to return to life as it was before".
In an interview with Corriere della Sera, he said government measures, including closing shops and schools, "can only be extended".
Conte urged all Italians to show "common sense" and stay at home apart from getting foodstuffs or drugs, or going to work if they have to.
He also said that the government was working on a decree to unblock tens of billions of euros of public investments and another intervention to safeguard strategic Italian companies.
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