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HEALTH

No, Italy has not closed its borders to tourists until 2021

After misleading reports circulated this week claiming that Italy had decided to close its borders to visitors until next year, here's a look at the facts on travel to Italy.

Published: 29 April 2020 09:44 CEST
No, Italy has not closed its borders to tourists until 2021
Everyone wants to know when travel to Italy will be possible again. File photo: AFP

Several of The Local's readers in Italy got in touch on Wednesday morning to ask us about suspect claims on social media and in some international news outlets stating that the Italian government has closed the country's borders to tourists until 2021.

Fortunately, the Italian government has not announced any such measure.

The Italian embassy in Moscow on Tuesday denied reports in some Russian media outlets of an alleged statement concerning the closure of Italian borders until the end of this year by Italy's culture and tourism minister, Dario Franceschini.

“The matter of Italy closing its state borders has not been discussed,” the embassy stated.

Franceschini himself, when asked about the claims in Italy's Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday, said: “As is all too obvious, I have never spoken, nor ever thought, of closing the Italian borders to tourists for 2020,” according to Il Messaggero.

“I am working on the exact opposite. I proposed yesterday at the meeting of tourism ministers of the European Union, a European uniformity of the safety rules with respect to the risk of contagion, allowing the free movement of tourists within the European Union. So we're starting bilateral talks with other countries that have a lot of tourism going to to Italy,” he added.

“Unfortunately, it is clear that fake news on closed borders is being circulated, with hostile intentions towards our country.”

Central Venice without the usual tourist crowds in April. Photo: AFP

And the president of Italy's National Tourism Agency, Giorgio Palmucci, stated: “Tourism in Italy will start again, with caution and maximum safety.  Minister Franceschini did well to clarify that no border closure is foreseen.”

“Those who love Italy must be allowed to return to enjoy it, in compliance with governmental and regional provisions,” he continued.

“This is a delicate phase in which it is essential to defend Italy even when it comes to correct communications. Bad information and fake news risk creating serious damage and unjustified alarmism.”

Technically, Italy's borders are not currently and never have been closed to tourism.

But of course, though there's no ban on foreign visitors and most Italian airports are actually still open, the strict measures aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus make travel to and from the country nearly impossible at the moment.

READ ALSO: Why are planes still flying to and from Italy during lockdown?

So when will we be able to travel to Italy?

This depends on when Italy's government, and other governments, deem it safe to relax various restrictions.

Hotels are closed. Museums may be allowed to reopen from mid-May, and bars and restaurants could be allowed to open their doors from June 1st, according to the latest government decree announced on Sunday.

Q&A: What are Italy's new rules under lockdown phase two?

But, while nothing has been confirmed yet, only domestic tourism within Italy is likely to be allowed this summer.

“We are making a strong investment in domestic tourism, because this will be a summer of holidays in Italy,” Franchescini said in an interview on Wednesday morning, in which he reiterated that claims of border closures until 2021 were false.

Under current rules, no travel is allowed at all except for emergencies, work, and health-related reasons. Italy's residents still need to complete a form every time they leave the house.

As Italy moves into “phase two” of its lockdown measures some rules will gradually be loosened over the following weeks, beginning on May 4th, though movements will still be restricted.

It is not yet known when Italy's residents will be allowed to travel freely within the country, or even in their own region.

International travel is not expected to be allowed to resume until “phase three” begins. And at the moment it's not known how long the second phase, which hasn't even started yet, may last.

Read more about the current travel restrictions in Italy and when they might be lifted here.

 

Member comments

  1. Italians should limit mass tourism and start with caution.Downloading visitor vouchers is one way or an app which gives you an access to a particular city or region.Like limit the people who can visit for example Venice or Florence a particular day or week.
    Random checks at Train stations or museums should be able to detect who is allowed and who is not.There should be fines.People should also carry a doctors certificate

  2. “The Italian embassy in Moscow on Tuesday denied reports in some Russian media outlets…”
    OF COURSE the fake news came out of Russia. Exactly no one is shocked by that. What I am shocked by is that anyone believes ANYTHING coming out of Russia.

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HEALTH

Italy’s schools warned to ‘avoid gatherings’ as Covid cases rise

As Italy’s new school year began, masks and hand sanitiser were distributed in schools and staff were asked to prevent gatherings to help stem an increase in Covid infections.

Published: 11 September 2023 12:48 CEST
Italy’s schools warned to ‘avoid gatherings’ as Covid cases rise

Pupils returned to school in many parts of Italy on Monday and authorities said they were distributing masks and hand sanitiser amid a post-summer increase in the number of recorded cases of Covid–19.

“The advice coming from principals, teachers and janitors is to avoid gatherings of students, especially in these first days of school,” Mario Rusconi, head of Italy’s Principals’ Association, told Rai news on Monday.

He added that local authorities in many areas were distributing masks and hand sanitizer to schools who had requested them.

“The use of personal protective equipment is recommended for teachers and students who are vulnerable,” he said, confirming that “use is not mandatory.”

A previous requirement for students to wear masks in the classroom was scrapped at the beginning of the last academic year.

Walter Ricciardi, former president of the Higher Health Institute (ISS), told Italy’s La Stampa newspaper on Monday that the return to school brings the risk of increased Covid infections.

Ricciardi described the health ministry’s current guidelines for schools as “insufficient” and said they were “based on politics rather than scientific criteria.”

READ ALSO:

Recorded cases of Covid have increased in most Italian regions over the past three weeks, along with rates of hospitalisation and admittance to intensive care, as much of the country returns to school and work following the summer holidays.

Altogether, Italy recorded 21,309 new cases in the last week, an increase of 44 percent compared to the 14,863 seen the week before.

While the World Health Organisation said in May that Covid was no longer a “global health emergency,” and doctors say currently circulating strains of the virus in Italy are not a cause for alarm, there are concerns about the impact on elderly and clinically vulnerable people with Italy’s autumn Covid booster campaign yet to begin.

“We have new variants that we are monitoring but none seem more worrying than usual,” stated Fabrizio Maggi, director of the Virology and Biosafety Laboratories Unit of the Lazzaro Spallanzani Institute for Infectious Diseases in Rome

He said “vaccination coverage and hybrid immunity can only translate into a milder disease in young and healthy people,” but added that “vaccinating the elderly and vulnerable continues to be important.”

Updated vaccines protecting against both flu and Covid are expected to arrive in Italy at the beginning of October, and the vaccination campaign will begin at the end of October, Rai reported.

Amid the increase in new cases, Italy’s health ministry last week issued a circular mandating Covid testing on arrival at hospital for patients with symptoms.

Find more information about Italy’s current Covid-19 situation and vaccination campaign on the Italian health ministry’s website (available in English).

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