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HEALTH

Italy approves travel ban exemption for separated international couples

People living outside of Europe can now travel to visit their partners in Italy, as Italian government has signed off on an exemption to the travel rules.

Published: 7 September 2020 21:09 CEST
Updated: 8 September 2020 11:36 CEST
Italy approves travel ban exemption for separated international couples
It is now possible for people in Italy to be reunited with their partners living outside of Europe after a rule change on September 7th. Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFP

The travel rules were relaxed for unmarried couples from September 7th as part of the latest Italian emergency decree signed by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Monday evening.

READ ALSO: Italy's new emergency decree extends most rules until October 7th

While most of Italy's travel restrictions remain in place under the new decree, there is an exception to allow the reunification of international couples separated due to the travel rules: partners living abroad can now enter Italy to reach “the person with whom they have a stable emotional relationship, even if not cohabiting.”, the decree text states.

Those travelling to Italy for this reason must undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine period upon arrival, and will need to complete a self-certification form (which has not yet been released), Italian newspaper La Repubblica reports. This self-certification form will be sent to local health authorities.

It is not yet clear what evidence travellers must provide to prove their relationship is “stable”.

The change came after thousands of unmarried couples joined the “Love is not tourism” movement, demanding that countries including Italy relax coronavirus rules and allow couples to reunite.

In Italy those with a partner outside Europe have been separated for almost eight months due to travel restrictions.

READ ALSO: 'We're not tourists': The separated US-Italian couples demanding change to Covid travel rules

A couple walk in front of the Spanish Steps in centrral Rome beforethe coronavirus outbreak. Photo: AFP

Under the rules in place until now, travel from the US to Italy was possible for the spouse or child of an Italian citizen (among other exemptions to the travel ban.) However, unmarried partners were cut off.

Exemptions were otherwise only allowed for those able to prove they have an urgent need to travel to Italy for work, health, study or emergency reasons.

From September 7th, partners can travel to Italy from non-EU countries to be reunited with their loved one.

However some confusion remains over the details and requirements – particularly as to how authorities will expect couples to prove the “stable” relationship status.

Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and six other countries had already changed their own travel rules in order to allow partners of their citizens to enter, provided they can show a negative Covid-19 test result.
 
 
Bureaucratic hurdles apply in those countries: Norwegian authorities say couples must have met at least once before and have been together at least nine months. The Netherlands says three months, but that couples must have “regularly” visited each other. France wants couples to provide proof of their relationship status to a consulate.
 
The Italian requirements are expected to be clarified by ministers in the coming days.
 
The exemption was one of the few changes made in the latest decree, which extended most of the current restrictions for one month.
 

Member comments

  1. This law is present and has been put to reduce pressure on the loveisnottourism campaign but In reality the Italian Consulate in Dubai rejected my application to see my Fiance of 6 years inspite of providing them with all the necessary documents.

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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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