ITALY HAS ANNOUNCED national travel restrictions for the Christmas holidays designed to limit the spread of Covid-19 in the European country first hit by the pandemic.
The new rules, together with an existing curfew and other regulations already in place, seek to curb circulation throughout the country during the festive period by limiting the number of gatherings.
Earlier this year, a punishing lockdown of all Italy’s 60 million residents helped bring the outbreak under control, but the government is trying to avoid missteps made over the summer after the lockdown lifted, when the return of vacationers fuelled a new rise in cases.
“If we let down our guard now, the third wave is just around the corner,” Health Minister Roberto Speranza told parliament on Wednesday.
Travel between Italy’s regions will be prohibited from 21 December through 6 January, with people barred from travelling outside their own towns on 25, 26 December and 1 January.
The decree includes the “strong recommendation” to avoid hosting those who do not live together.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte outlined new curbs yesterday including a night curfew from 10:00pm to 5:00am.
Other regulations mandated include a 10-day quarantine for those arriving in Italy from foreign countries, beginning on 20 December.
The move is in part designed to prevent Italians from travelling to ski slopes that are still open in neighbouring EU countries.
Restaurants can remain open in the least affected regions until 6:00 pm but only takeaways are allowed in other areas. Ski slopes will be closed until 7 January.
“We must eliminate the risk of a third wave which could arrive in January and not less serious than the first and the second” ones, the prime minister told a news conference.
“We cannot let down our guard,” Conte stressed.
Yesterday Italy recorded its highest daily death toll from coronavirus with 993 fatalities in 24 hours, despite a downward trend in infection rates.
The previous grim record of 969 deaths was set on 27 March, when Italy was under national lockdown after becoming the first European country to be hit by the global pandemic.
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