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IN PHOTOS: Schools start to reopen in Italy after six-month closure

Millions of Italian children returned to the classroom on Monday as many schools reopened - more than six months after they were closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Published: 14 September 2020 10:03 CEST

IN PHOTOS: Schools start to reopen in Italy after six-month closure

A pupil waves to his family as children arrive at school in Rome on September 14th, 2020. All photos: Vinzenzo Pinto/AFP

Although many Italian schools have postponed reopening, roughly 5.6 million students from a total of eight million went back to school on Monday with new rules and restrictions in place.

All photos: Vinzenzo Pinto/AFP

Italian Prime minister Giuseppe Conte admitted on Sunday that Italian schools faced a difficult situation, including a lack of teachers, single-seat desks, and

face masks.

“There will be difficulties and inconveniences, especially in the beginning,” Conte wrote on Facebook.

READ ALSO: What happens if there's a Covid-19 outbreak in Italian schools?

With the country registering more than 1,500 infections a day, Conte urged youngsters to “do their part”.

“You have to commit yourselves to the rules of caution that will allow you to protect your health and the health of the

people you love,” he said.

All photos: Vinzenzo Pinto/AFP

Seven regions including Puglia and Calabria have postponed reopening until September 22nd or 24th over concerns they were not ready

to meet all the new requirements.

And many local authorities within those regions set to reopen on Monday also chose to keep schools closed until later in the month.

All photos: Vinzenzo Pinto/AFP

Italian officials said the back-to-school strategy involved immediate quarantine of those “in close contact” with a student or teacher testing positive.

After a positive result, pupils will be allowed back to school only after returning two negatives, carried out a day apart.

A sign outsie a school in Rome reads: “Together we will make it. School at last.” All photos: Vinzenzo Pinto/AFP

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'We are desperate': Why the UK must help Britons with Italian healthcare charges

Pat Eggleton, a teacher and writer from the UK, appealed to the UK’s Foreign Secretary David Cameron in the letter sent April 9th about the “desperate” situation faced by UK citizens entitled to free healthcare in Italy – but unable to access it.

British nationals residing in Italy before Brexit, and covered by the Withdrawal Agreement (WA), are in many cases being told by Italian health authorities that they must pay steep new fees at a minimum of €2,000 a year – even though they are exempt from paying at all.

READ ALSO: ‘Life or death situation’: Brits facing high Italian healthcare costs amid rule change uncertainty

In her open letter seen by The Local, Ms. Eggleton, who has lived in Italy since 2005, highlighted that the current minimum is a huge jump from the previous €387, and said that the sum was “difficult, or even impossible, for some to find when there had been no prior notification and there is no option to pay in instalments.”

“A great deal of undeserved worry, frustration and even fear has ensued,” she wrote.

“Some of our group have serious, ongoing health conditions. All we require is for one sentence from the Italian government confirming that Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries do not have to pay for healthcare access to be circulated to all regional health authorities.

“We implore you to act before this becomes even more serious. As someone put it, “This is a matter not only of money, but of health.”

Ms Eggleton’s letter came exactly one month after the British government confirmed that all WA agreement beneficiaries are exempt from paying the €2,000 fee, provided they were living in Italy before January 1st 2021.

But there were no details available at the time from the Italian government setting out how the rules would be implemented or communicated to local health authorities around Italy.

Since then, there has been no further information released by the Italian government on any official platform.

One Withdrawal Agreement beneficiary, Graham Beresford, told The Local last week how he was having trouble accessing healthcare, even though he has a right to it.

Mr. Beresford suffers from blood cancer and needs access to the Italian healthcare system to obtain his medication.

“Every time I go to my ASL (local health unit) office, I always feel like I’m dismissed,” Graham said. “I told the ASL worker I need medication for my cancer and she replied lots of people come in here with sob stories.

“There genuinely seems to be no compassion whatsoever.”

The Local has written to the Italian health ministry for comment.

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