Italy’s government, desperate to stave off a likely recession, played down on Thursday the gravity of an outbreak of coronavirus, the worst yet seen in Europe, saying it only affected a tiny fraction of the country.

But even as ministers took to the airwaves with reassuring messages, officials said the death toll had risen to 17 overnight, while the number of people confirmed to have contracted the illness rose by more than 200 to 650.

“The epidemic of misleading information will do more damage to Italy than the risk of the virus epidemic itself,” foreign minister Luigi Di Maio said. “Only 0.1 per cent of the country is involved.” Analysts have warned that the outbreak looks set to shunt Italy’s fragile economy into its fourth recession in 12 years.