MILAN — Italy's former Premier Silvio Berlusconi has been released from the hospital after a 10-day stay with COVID-19 and pneumonia, saying he had never feared as much for his life as from this “insidious” disease.

Wearing a suit and smiling, the 83-year-old Berlusconi urged Italians to take the virus seriously and “rigorously” adhere to mask mandates, social distancing norms and frequent hand washing.

He sent a special appeal to Italy’s students, millions of whom were returning to school for the first time Monday since early March, when Italy became the epicenter of the outbreak in Europe and schools shut down.

Berlusconi, who has had heart problems and uses a pacemaker, thanked his doctors at San Raffaele hospital in Milan and acknowledged most Italians in his condition didn’t survive the virus. He said: “I overcame what I consider perhaps the most dangerous challenge of my life.”