“We could not afford to wait any longer. We risk being overwhelmed,” stated the Governor of Emilia Romagna, Stefano Bonaccini.

“From Monday, the red zone could extend to the whole Emilia Romagna region,” he told newspaper La Repubblica.

As coronavirus cases spike and hospitals appeal for reinforcement in the Bologna province, all the mayors of the metropolitan area voted unanimously on Thursday to adopt a red zone.

The data for the last week of February in the Bologna local health authority area assessed the validity of the area’s dark orange status. The figures show an average of 400 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, with 13 municipalities exceeding 500.

These figures deem the province qualified to enter into a red zone.

READ ALSO: Covid-19: What changes under Italy’s new March emergency decree?

Combined with these numbers, the urgent calls from health workers reporting critical situations in hospitals tipped the balance in favour of applying even more stringent measures.

Bologna’s lockdown is in force until March 21st, and it’s one of dozens of so-called ‘mini lockdowns’ in the country.

What are the rules in Bologna’s red zone?

Among the changes for the province are school closures, which includes moving education online for everyone from nursery children to university students. Nurseries will be closed from March 6th.

Personal care services such as hairdressers and beauty salons will also close from 6th March, stated the Governor Bonaccini.

All shops, except those providing necessities, will also pull down their shutters. Essential shops remaining open include supermarkets, newsagents, animal food retailers, petrol stations and pharmacies.

Bars and restaurants do not face much of a change, as just in the dark orange zone, only takeaways and home delivery are allowed.

Travel and moving around is severely restricted – journeys both into and out of the territories of municipalities, as well as within the same territories, are forbidden. The curfew of 10pm – 5am remains in place.

Unless there’s a necessity, visiting relatives and friends once a day, even within your own municipality, or going to your second home, is also excluded.

Rules under local red zone restrictions can vary, and are subject to change.

Residents are advised to check for changes to local rules as well as following updates from the national government. (Here’s where to find the latest updates from your local authority.)

Italy’s local and regional restrictions

The local directives are intertwined with the national changes contained in the latest emergency decree, also known as the DPCM (Decreto del presidente del consiglio, or ‘prime minister’s decree’). Each region and province can also decide their own rules, based on the local contagion risk.

As the Italian government announced an updated set of coronavirus restrictions on Tuesday, it kept the regional tiered system in place and also paved the way for local lockdowns to continue until at least April 6th.

READ ALSO:

• Schools to close in Covid ‘red zones’ as Italian PM signs new emergency decree
• MAP: Which zone is your region in under Italy’s tier system?

Health minister Roberto Speranza confirmed the continuing nationwide tier system at a press conference on Tuesday. Which colour a region falls into will be revised based on weekly monitoring reports from the Health Ministry and Higher Health Institute (ISS).

Local restrictions in areas where spikes in infections are detected, such as Bologna, remain “indispensable” in stemming the spread of new variants, according to Speranza.

“Some (additional restrictions) were decided due to the outbreaks of cases caused by the English variant, others to the presence of the Brazilian or South African variant.

“We are aware that they involve sacrifices, but there is no other way at the moment to avoid a worsening of the epidemiological picture,” stated Speranza.