Barely 60 kilometres (35 miles) away from the capital of the Lombardy region, where outfits from Salvatore Ferragamo and Ermanno Scervino were headlining runway interest, 39 confirmed cases have emerged.

The small town of Codogno, about an hour away from Italy's business capital by road, was in lockdown along with several other neighbouring towns after the deaths of an elderly woman and man.

Second coronavirus death sparks fears, lockdown in Italian towns

Those fatalities saw Italy become the first country in Europe to report the death of one of its own nationals from the virus.

Authorities confirmed Saturday the other people infected had all had contact with “patient number one”, a 38-year-old man still in intensive care in Codogno.

Members of his family, friends and his doctors are all among those who have been diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus and Italian authorities have reacted by asking some 50,000 people in the area to stay at home to keep the virus spread at bay.

“The (fashion) shows are going ahead calmly, there is no panic, there are no cases of contamination or suspicion of cases in Milan or in our sector for the moment and we hope that stays so,” said Carlo Capasa, president of Italy's National Fashion Chamber.

“Prevention measures are absolutely active — we are in permanent contact with health institutions who tell us the situation is under control,” Capasa told AFP.

Three Italian Serie A football matches postponed over coronavirus fears

Italian authorities have ordered the postponement of three Serie A football matches on Sunday over coronavirus fears in northern Italy.

The matches between title-chasing Inter Milan and Sampdoria, Atalanta against Sassuolo and Hellas Verona versus Cagliari have been pushed back to avoid the spread of the virus with 79 confirmed cases in an outbreak that has claimed two lives in the country.