The governor of the Lazio region, Nicola Zingaretti, signed a new ordinance on Wednesday night that imposes a curfew for 30 days from October 23rd.

The regions of Lombardy and Campania have already ordered similar measures that come into effect this week.

READ ALSO: How Italy's regions are tightening Covid-19 restrictions

Lazio's curfew will begin an hour later than theirs, at midnight, and last until 5am.

During these hours, residents must only leave home for an urgent reason such as work, health or other necessities. They will have to carry an 'autodichiarazione', or self-certification form, to justify being on the streets (download a copy here). 

People found out without a valid reason risk a fine from €400 to €3,000.

In addition the city of Rome has declared certain parts of the city no-go zones after 9pm. Streets and squares famed for nightlife, including piazza Campo dei Fiori and via del Pigneto, will be blocked off even before the nightly curfew starts to avoid crowding.

Lazio also plans to order secondary schools to move at least 50 percent of teaching online from Monday, while for universities the quota is 75 percent.

The region reported 1,219 new cases on Wednesday, out of a total of more than 20,000 tests.

One of Italy's leading public health experts has warned that Italy's biggest cities have so many infections by now that tracing and testing is no longer enough to effectively contain the surge.

Walter Ricciardi, who advises the Italian government on Covid-19, said that the next resort should be to begin limiting movement.

READ ALSO: Italy's biggest cities 'out of control', warns health expert as new cases top 15,000

While Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has urged people to “limit unnecessary travel”, he insisted that Italy could avoid another nationwide lockdown. 

In the meantime several Italian regions have begun imposing their own restrictions, including curfews, limits on travel and more schooling online.