ROME, March 12 (CNA-AFP) -- Italy's death toll from the coronavirus epidemic shot past 1,000 on Thursday (Mar 12) as the economic impact worsened, with much of the country at a standstill and the Milan bourse posting its largest-ever one-day fall.

Looking to halt the spread of the disease, the government introduced yet more restrictions on Italians, ordering the blanket, nationwide closure of restaurants, bars and almost all shops except for food stores and chemists.

Most Italians were stoical in the face of the unprecedented disruption. "The government is doing its best, we're in a war against an invisible enemy," said Rome delicatessen shop owner Roberto Castroni.

Highlighting the challenge facing Italy, the worst-affected country in Europe, the daily death toll jumped by 189 to 1,016.

Confirmed cases rose to 15,113 from a previous 12,462, the biggest daily rise in absolute terms since the contagion came to light on Feb 21 in the wealthy northern region of Lombardy.

In an ever-escalating series of measures to halt the spread, Rome's Catholic churches were ordered closed on Thursday - an unprecedented move in modern times that will apply to more than 900 parochial and historic churches in the Italian capital.