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INDIA

Italy bans arrivals from virus-hit India

Italy is to ban arrivals from coronavirus hotspot India, apart from Italian residents, Health Minister Roberto Speranza said Sunday.

Published: 25 April 2021 16:01 CEST
Italy bans arrivals from India
Photo: Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP

“I have signed a new decree banning people from entering Italy who have been in India within the past 14 days,” Speranza wrote on Facebook.

“We can’t let our guard down” ahead of a limited reopening set to begin across Italy on Monday, he added.

“Residents of Italy can return but must take a (coronavirus) test before departure and on arrival and remain in quarantine” once on Italian soil, Speranza said.

Meanwhile, anyone already in Italy who had been in India in the past 14 days should contact health authorities, he added.

With a new coronavirus variant spreading through its 1.3 billion people, India has become the world’s top coronavirus hotspot in recent days, reporting 349,691 new cases on Sunday alone.

In the past week, more than two million cases have been detected, a 58-percent increase on the previous seven days, according to figures compiled by AFP.

READ ALSO: When will Italy relax the restrictions on international travel?

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POLITICS

Italian tourism minister charged with Covid-era fraud

Prosecutors on Friday charged Italy's tourism minister with fraud relating to government redundancy funds claimed by her publishing companies during the coronavirus pandemic.

Published: 4 May 2024 09:19 CEST
Italian tourism minister charged with Covid-era fraud

Opposition lawmakers immediately requested the resignation of Daniela Santanche, a leading member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right Brothers of Italy party.

Santanche, 63, has strongly rejected the allegations, including in a defiant appearance in parliament last year.

“The Milan prosecutor’s office today requested the indictment of the Minister Santanche and other persons as well as the companies Visibilia Editore and Visibilia Concessionaria,” the office said in a brief statement.

They were indicted “for alleged fraud of the INPS (National Institute for Social Security) in relation to alleged irregularities in the use of the Covid 19 redundancy fund, for a total of 13 employees”.

According to media reports, Visibilia is accused of obtaining state funds intended to help companies struggling with the pandemic to temporarily lay off staff — when in fact the 13 employees continued to work.

Santanche sold her stake in Visibilia when she joined the government of Meloni, who took office in October 2022.

The investigation has been going on for months, but with the decision by prosecutors to indict, opposition parties said Santanche should resign.

“We expect the prime minister to have a minimum of respect for the institutions and ask for Daniela Santanche’s resignation,” said Elly Schlein, leader of the centre-left Democratic Party.

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