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Tuscany and Campania declared Covid red zones as Italy records 40,000 new cases

Italy declared two more regions red zones and three more orange zones on Friday as the daily number of new coronavirus cases exceeded 40,000.

Published: 13 November 2020 17:33 CET
Tuscany and Campania declared Covid red zones as Italy records 40,000 new cases
Naples and the surrounding Campania region has been designated a lower-risk area, sparking anger from local officials. Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFP

As Italy continues to struggle with a worsening coronavirus situation in many parts of the country, the health ministry announced the regions of Campania and Tuscany will be designated high risk “red zones”.

Three more regions, Emilia Romagna, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Marche went from being yellow to medium-risk orange zones.

Health Minister Roberto Speranza will sign an ordinance on Friday night, and the new restrictions come into force on Sunday November 15th.

AT A GLANCE: What are the coronavirus rules in my part of Italy now?

The change means Italy's regions are now divided into the following categories:

Red (high risk) zones: Calabria, Campania, Tuscany Lombardy, Piedmont, Valle d'Aosta, autonomous province of Bolzano (also known as Alto Adige/South Tyrol).

Orange (medium-high risk) zones: Abruzzo, Basilicata, Liguria, Puglia, Sicily, Marche, Umbria, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia

Yellow (moderate risk) zones: Lazio, Molise, Sardinia, Veneto, autonomous province of Trento (Trentino).

The health ministry announced the new classifications as it revealed the latest national health data on Friday evening.

Italy recorded 40,902 new infections in the past 24 hours according to health ministry figures.

READ ALSO: 'We are afraid': Naples residents prepare for new restrictions as hospitals overwhelmed

This was the highest daily number yet. Italy also carried out the highest number of tests yet, at 254,908.

There were 550 more deaths in the same period.

There are now 3,230 patients in intensive care in Italy, and more than 33,000 people are now in hospital – around the same number as during the peak of the first wave, in April.

Red zone regions are under the maximum restrictions after Italy introduced its three-tier system last week.

The government has now updated the regional system twice since it was introduced on Friday November 6th.

Tuscany was declared on orange zone on Wednesday, while Campania had been designated a yellow zone until now.

READ ALSO: ‘No plan, just hope’: How is Italy going to get the second wave under control?

Ministers bumped up five regions from yellow to orange zone restrictions on Wednesday, after Monday's weekly monitoring report from the Ministry of Health and the Higher Health Institute (ISS).gave a worrying picture of the coronavirus situation across the country.

“All regions are classified as being at high risk of an uncontrolled and unmanageable epidemic, or at moderate risk with a high probability of progressing to high risk in the coming weeks,” the report read.
 
Health authorities have repeatedly warned that hospitals across Italy, and particularly in hard-hit areas such as Milan and Naples, are struggling to cope with a large number of patients.
 
Some regions have meanwhile started bringing in their own additional rules as part of efforts to avoid crowding and further transmission of the coronavirus.

Veneto has declared itself “yellow plus” and, along with Emilia-Romagna and Friuli-Venezia Giulia, will introduce new regional ordinances urging residents to avoid exercising or simply strolling on the streets of their town centres.

Q&A: Your key questions about Italy's coronavirus rules answered

Central Milan stands near empty after the region of Lombardy was declared a red zone on Friday November 6th. Photo: AFP

Orange zones face slightly less severe restrictions than red zones.

 
People in regions set to to move from yellow to orange zone restrictions will no longer be allowed to enter or leave their municipality or region without “proven” work or health-related reasons for doing so.
 
Bars and restaurants will close, though takeaway and delivery is still allowed.
 
 
People in red and orange zones are also asked not to move around within their municipality unless necessary.
 
The entire country remains under an evening curfew between 10pm and 5am.
 
 
Italy last week introduced the tiered system of restrictions, which is based on 21 different criteria, as it sought to avoid a second nationwide lockdown.
 
 
However, Conte insisted again on Wednesday that he is trying to avoid tough national measures like those announced in March.
 
The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases since the pandemic began in Italy passed the symbolic one million mark on Wednesday, according to official data, as health experts said the coronavirus situation in Italy is now “out of control”.

An epidemic is defined as 'out of control' “when positive cases exceed one percent of the population, and (on Wednesday) we broke through the threshold of one percent of the population currently being infected with Sars-Cov-2,” Dr Nino Cartabellotta, head of Italy’s evidence-based medicine foundation, Gimbe, told reporters on Thursday.

READ ALSO:  Where to find the latest Covid-19 information for your region of Italy

 

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BREXIT

‘In the dark’: Why Brits in Italy are still unable to prove rights to free healthcare

Despite UK and Italian authorities confirming that British residents covered by post-Brexit rules are entitled to healthcare in Italy, many still face "significant problems" in accessing it, the British government has said.

Published: 22 May 2024 13:38 CEST
Updated: 23 May 2024 11:57 CEST
'In the dark': Why Brits in Italy are still unable to prove rights to free healthcare

Cancer patients are among those in need of treatment but unable to access the Italian national health service amid confusion over post-Brexit rules, campaigners say, after clarifications from the UK and Italian governments have so far failed to resolve bureaucratic deadlocks at local authority level.

Since the end of the Brexit transition period in 2021, many British nationals resident in Italy covered by the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) have reported difficulties in proving their right to free healthcare under the Italian public system.

The problem was exacerbated this year after the Italian government in January hiked the minimum annual fee for ‘voluntary’ healthcare registration from €387 to €2,000, which many said they were unable to pay.

The British government in February stepped in to clarify that UK nationals covered by the WA should not be subject to charges for healthcare, and on its Living in Italy website it advised those affected to show their local health authority office (Azienda Sanitaria Locale, or ASL) an official note published by the Italian health ministry on February 15th which sets out their rights (find it here, in Italian.)

WA beneficiaries “can compulsorily enrol (iscrizione obbligatoria) with the Italian National Health System,” states the final section, pointing out that the deal, “in Article 23, provides for equal treatment with domestic nationals.”

But for some local health officials, even this written confirmation does not appear to be enough to clear up the confusion.

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

The UK government on Friday, May 17th, updated its guidance to say it had become aware that “some beneficiaries of the Withdrawal Agreement are facing significant problems accessing health services and renewing their healthcare cards,” despite its advice to show local health authorities the official note.

British nationals continue to report that local health authorities around Italy remain unwilling to issue them with a health card, while campaigners say the situation is further complicated for some by the fact that Italian authorities have also refused to issue proof of their permanent residency status, which entitles them to free healthcare.

This was the case for Graham Beresford, a British citizen living in Abruzzo who has been diagnosed with a rare cancer and remains unable to access the free healthcare he is entitled to, as he says local authorities don’t understand the post-Brexit rules.

Graham told The Local in April that the government’s clarifications on the issue had made little difference – his ASL continues to demand he pay the 2,000-euro charge.

READ ALSO: Can I get a refund after wrongly paying Italy’s €2,000 healthcare fee?

“Every time I go to my ASL 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.”

Graham’s story was reported in The Guardian on May 12th ahead of UK foreign secretary David Cameron’s first major meeting with European commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič to discuss post-Brexit relations.

Campaigners also wrote to Cameron in April to appeal for help with the “desperate” situation faced by those unable to access care in Italy.

In its update to the Living in Italy website on Friday, the British government stated: “Since [the health ministry’s note] was published, and particularly in recent days and weeks, it has become clear to us that not all Italian authorities are consistently following this guidance.”

“We are urgently speaking to all relevant parts of the Italian government to clarify the situation so that we can give clear advice to those affected as soon as possible. 

“We also know that this problem is linked to the many difficulties some are experiencing with obtaining an attestazione di soggiorno permanente and/or the Carta di Soggiorno permanente. We are working to help with these issues too.

“We will update this page as soon as we have further news.”

READ ALSO: ‘We are desperate’: Why the UK must help Britons with Italian healthcare charges

Clarissa Killwick from Beyond Brexit, a group for UK citizens in Italy, said the situation “should never have been allowed to happen” and that there had been “a series of communication failures and inconsistencies.”

“We’re not far short of five months after the introduction of the €2,000 new minimum for voluntary contributions and there is still no clarity,” she added.

“There are fraught exchanges in public offices because people on both sides of the counter are in the dark or with conflicting information.

“People need information they can rely on, unequivocally. What do you say to someone who is waiting for an operation but has no idea what is going on?”

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