The Carnival period in Venice usually marks the start of peak season in one of the world's most-visited cities, with hordes of tourists piling onto waterbuses to cruise the Grand Canal, strolling through cobblestone streets and lingering in picturesque cafes.

Key points: Italy has been hard hit by a major outbreak of COVID-19

Italy has been hard hit by a major outbreak of COVID-19 Venice is already suffering from more frequent floods due to rising sea levels

Venice is already suffering from more frequent floods due to rising sea levels Tourism accounts for more than a 10th of Italy's economy

Venice in the time of coronavirus, though, is a shell of itself, with empty piazzas, shuttered basilicas and gondoliers idling their days away.

The cholera epidemic that raged quietly through Venice in Thomas Mann's fictional Death in Venice has been replaced by a real-life fear of COVID-19.

Venice, a UNESCO world heritage site, had already been brought to its knees last year, when near-record-high tides flooded the lagoon city.

The city has remained quiet ever since the outbreak. ( AP: Francisco Seco )

Officials had hoped tourists would return as soon as the waters receded, and they did to some degree.

Hotels were at 95 per cent capacity on the last weekend of Carnival celebrations last month.

But then the virus hit, claiming its first Italian fatality in the Veneto region and some of the first positive cases in Venice's historic centre.

The regional president closed Venice's decadent Carnival celebrations with two days to go, forcing revellers in ball gowns and painted masks to cancel their parties.

Venice has remained quiet ever since.

Carnival is usually Venice's peak tourism season. ( AP: Francisco Seco )

Only residents and intrepid tourists wearing a different type of mask — surgical ones — remain to take advantage of a city that otherwise would be jammed.

They have the place to themselves: Rialto, the Bridge of Sighs, the pigeons of Piazza San Marco.

On Wednesday came another hit, with the May start of Venice's Architecture Biennale now postponed until the end of August.

The delayed opening cuts in half the planned six-month attraction that provides a steady stream of visitors to Venice's art and film festival circuit.

The economic losses are piling up in a city already going under, given the more existential, long-term threat that Venice is sinking.

Tourism is a key pillar of Italy's economy. ( AP: Francisco Seco )

The head of Venice's hotel association, Claudio Scarpa, estimated lost revenue had already reached 1 billion euros ($1.7 billion), local media reported.

Nationwide, the Confturismo-Confcommercio tourist lobby estimated virus-related losses of 7.4 billion euros ($12.5 billion) from March 1–May 31.

In Italy, tourism and its related industries amount to 13 per cent of gross domestic product.

The Veneto region surrounding Venice has been hard hit by the virus, counting 345 of Italy's 3,089 positive cases.

Authorities have hoped in vain that tourists will return to Venice. ( AP: Francisco Seco )

Veneto schools have been closed since the start of the outbreak, and the tiny town of Vo'Euganeo has been under quarantine for nearly two weeks.

Veneto's regional president Luca Zaia has been battling to preserve Venice's tourism industry in the face of contagion.

On Wednesday, he posted a gauzy photo of the lagoon city on his Facebook page with the caption: "Venice 'infects' only with its beauty."

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AP