The decree, signed by Health Minister Roberto Speranza on Sunday evening, will be enforced until September 7.

Masks must now be worn in public areas where social distancing is not possible between 6:00 pm and 6:00 am, while the order closing clubs also applies to outdoor dancing venues such as beaches.

The new measure comes after wrangling between the government and regions over the nightlife sector, which employs nearly 50,000 people in 3000 clubs across the country, according to the nightclub operators’ union SILB.

The government has promised economic support for the industry, which cites losses of €4 billion.

The decision comes at the tail end of Italy’s sacrosanct Ferragosto weekend, a major holiday during which most Italians go to the beach – and many flock to beach clubs and open-air discos in the evenings.

Indoor establishments had already been barred from operating.

Some clubs had reportedly struggled to make customers comply with the rules – despite DJs urging people to wear their masks and to keep their distance on the dance floor.

Some regions, like Calabria in the south, had already ordered all dance venues shut, while others such as Sardinia had kept them open.

The move came after Italian authorities reported 629 new infections on Saturday – the country’s highest daily tally of new infections since May.

The new measures were announced the same day that coronavirus testing was introduced at Rome’s airports for travellers returning to Italy from Croatia, Greece, Malta and Spain, amid a rising number of infections elsewhere in Europe.

The measures also coincided with the resumption of the cruise ship industry on August 16, with Italy’s first Mediterranean cruise setting sail since the country entered lockdown.

Italy, the first country to be hit by the coronavirus crisis in Europe, has officially recorded nearly 254,000 cases of coronavirus and more than 35,000 deaths since the country’s first outbreak was detected in late February.