He added: "We have to put aside selfishness in this crisis. All countries will be affected. Europe isn't just about the economy, Europe is also about human dignity.”

The message was echoed on Thursday by Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez said.

He told parliament in Madrid that it was a “now or never” moment for Europe to show effective unity.

“The pandemic demands forcefulness. We need seamless solidarity in Europe. That is what I demand from the EU; it’s now or never,” the prime minister told Congress, where he is asking for parliament to support the extension of the country’s state of emergency and lockdown measures until April 26.

“No one is to blame for this crisis,” he added, saying that the coronavirus “does not distinguish between north and south”.

Last week one of Mr Conte’s predecessors also warned that the EU was in danger of failing over the perceived indifference of some countries in the north.

The stark warning was all the more pointed because it came from Enrico Letta, a former prime minister and a convinced Europhile from Italy’s centre-Left.

Divisions between member states posed a “mortal danger” to the EU, he said.

“It pains me to say it, but the countries who are dragging their feet, such as Holland, Germany and Sweden, have not yet experienced corteges of coffins. Northern European governments need to get moving. When you’re on the Titanic there’s no such thing as third class or first class – you’re all going down together,” he told Corriere della Sera newspaper.

The rate of new infections is slowing in Italy but the shutting down of business and industry is expected to lead to a dramatic fall in GDP of up to 10% - the worst contraction since the Second World War.

So far, more than 17,000 people have died of the virus in Italy. The death toll on Wednesday was 542, while on Tuesday the total was 604.

More than 26,000 people have recovered from the virus, but 95,000 are still infected.