Italy recorded almost 33,000 new infections in the past 24 hours to reach 1,028,424 in total since the pandemic began.
Deaths are also rising fast, with another 623 reported on Wednesday, taking the total to 42,953.
Italy was the first in Europe to be hit by the outbreak earlier this year, sparking an unprecedented national lockdown that curbed infection rates but devastated the economy.
After a lull over the summer, cases have been on the rise again in recent weeks, in step with much of the continent.
The regions hit hardest by Italy’s second wave of coronavirus infections are Lombardy, which recorded 8180 new cases on Wednesday, Campania (3166), Veneto (3082) and Piedmont (2953).
Over 29,000 people are currently being treated for the virus in Italian hospitals, the health ministry said.
More than 3000 of those are in intensive care.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte last week implemented a nationwide overnight curfew and early closing for bars and restaurants, shutting them altogether and further restricting residents’ movements in “high-risk” regions.
But doctors and health experts are pushing for tougher national measures, amid warnings that health services are already buckling under the pressure.
Massimo Galli, the head of the infectious diseases department at Milan’s renowned Sacco hospital, warned on Monday the situation was “largely out of control”.
Italian media reports the government is looking at whether or not lockdown may now be necessary.
In an interview with Italian daily La Stampa on Wednesday, Conte said he was working “to avoid the closure of the entire national territory”.
“We are constantly monitoring the evolution of the contagion, the reactivity and the capacity of our health system to respond,” he said.
“Above all we are confident that we will soon see the effects of the restrictive measures already adopted.”
Italy is the 10th country to pass the million cases mark, after the United States, India, Brazil, Russia, France, Spain, Argentina, the United Kingdom and Colombia.
