Two Russian military aircraft carrying a team of virologists, health specialists and equipment have departed for Italy, the country the worst hit by the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak.

According to Russian media the transport aircraft carrying military virologists, other doctors and supplies left Russian airspace on Sunday.

The Ministry of Defence in Moscow confirmed the equipment and specialists would arrive in at an Italian base to the southwest of Rome.

Russian support for Italy was pledged on Saturday after a phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. The deal was finalised later by the countries’ two defence ministers.

Italian male nurse Paolo Miranda takes a self portrait in an elevator's mirror as he goes to start his shift at the Cremona hospital, southeast of Milan, Lombardy. AFP A child who has a high temperature has her details recorded by a health worker at a public hospital, in Harare, Zimbabwe. AP Photo French tenor singer Stephane Senechal (L) sings at his window for the inhabitants of his street in Paris, France. EPA Coffins, one of them with the pennant of the local soccer team, wait to be transported to cemetery, in the church of Serina, near Bergamo, Northern Italy. AP Members of Joint Task Force 2, composed of soldiers and airmen from the New York Army and Air National Guard, work to sanitize the New Rochelle High School during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in New Rochelle, New York, U.S. REUTERS Nurses wearing protective mask and gear embrac at the Cremona hospital, southeast of Milan, Lombardy, during the country's lockdown aimed at stopping the spread of the COVID-19. AFP Aerial view of empty roads in Medellin, Colombia. AFP French soldiers of La Valbonne medical regiment set up a military field hospital at the Emile Muller Hospital in Mulhouse, eastern France. AFP A man wears a protective suit and a gas mask as he walks along a street in central Moscow as Moscow city officials have limited public gatherings of more than 50 people and schools across the country will close for three weeks from March 23 in an effort to stop the spread of the COVID-19 infection caused by the novel coronavirus. AFP A man walks on the deserted Trocadero square in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris on the fifth day of a strict nationwide lockdown. AFP Medics perform an examination on a rescued Syrian refugee in the Iskele district (Trikomo) in the self-declared Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC) recognised only by Turkey, north of Famagusta. AFP Members of the Baden family from Coon Rapids, Minnesota, wave to their father and grandfather, John Baden, from the street because they are not allowed in his hospital room during the pandemic while he's being treated at the Hennepin County Medical Center for issues not related to Covid-19 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. EPA

In total, as many as nine IL-76 transport aircraft are expected to arrive in Italy, the country’s La Stampa newspaper reported. The mission will include eight mobile medical teams along with medical equipment and aerosol disinfection trucks.

Several countries have offered their support to Rome as cases of the novel coronavirus surge in the country. Italy has confirmed more than 53,000 cases of the disease it causes, Covid-19, and more than 4,800 deaths.

Chinese specialist doctors and medical equipment have arrived in Italy ready to help tackle the sharp spike in people with the disease, which has overwhelmed medical facilities.

The doctors bring with them first-hand experience of dealing with the coronavirus, having previously helped to tackle the original outbreak in China’s Hubei province that killed more than 3,000 people. The rate of new cases in China has dwindled amid tough quarantine measures, while in Europe the outbreak continues to spread.

In the face of the mounting death toll in Italy, Mr Conte went on live TV to announce he was tightening the country’s lockdown and shutting down all factories except those providing essential goods and services.

“We are facing the most serious crisis that the country has experienced since World War Two,” Mr Conte told Italians during a midnight broadcast.

He said there was “no alternative” than to impose further restrictions. Scientists have argued that avoiding even one infection means scores more are prevented down the line.