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HEALTH

Travel between ‘low risk’ Italian regions may be allowed from early June: minister

People can "probably" travel freely around Italy again from June 3rd, depending on regional risk, Italy's Regional Affairs Minister Francesco Boccia has said.

Published: 21 May 2020 13:43 CEST
The government is looking at relaxing travel rules, including the ban on travel between regions, as it continues to ease measures introduced in March aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus.
 
“It will depend on the conditions of the region. If a region is low risk, travel will probably be allowed from June 3rd,” Boccia said on Thursday, the Ansa news agency reports.
 
“On interregional mobility, I ask for a little more patience,” he said.
 
“Today most of the regions are at low risk, three are at medium risk, but we're talking about data from the past. I hope that all of them will become low risk next week.”
 
He did not state which three regions are seen as “medium risk”.
 
He explained that the government wants to wait a few days for more data, in order to see whether the infection rate has been affected by the relaxation of the restrictions so far in May.
 
 
“If a region is high risk it certainly won't be able to receive entries from other regions, but let's hope that is not the case”.
 
He went on to say the crowds at nightlife spots, seen since restrictions were eased on May 4th and again on May 18th, were “not tolerable” and “risk becoming a hotbed for infection.”
 
Crowds in Milan's popular canalside area after lockdown rules were relaxed on May 4th. Photo: AFP
 
As Italy relaxes its coronavirus lockdown, some restrictions on travel have been dropped – but there are still restrictions on travel between regions, or to and from the country
 
The government stated on May 16th that people in Italy would be allowed to move between regions from June 3rd, though local authorities can limit travel if there's an increase in infections.
 
It also said international travel to and from EU countries would be allowed from the same date, with no obligation to self-isolate. 
 
 
International and interregional movement can be limited by regional decree “in relation to specific states and territories, in accordance with the principles of adequacy and proportionality to the epidemiological risk”, the government stated.
 
The external borders of the EU remain closed to non-essential travel until at least June 15th.

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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.”

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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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