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SUMMER

Covid-19: Italy to set date for dropping outdoor mask-wearing rule

As coronavirus infection rates continue to fall, Italian health authorities are on Monday reviewing the current requirement to wear masks at all times when outdoors in public.

Published: 21 June 2021 15:34 CEST
Covid-19: Italy to set date for dropping outdoor mask-wearing rule
Photo: Miguel Medina/AFP

Italy has required face masks to be worn outdoors as well as indoors since October 2020, and as temperatures soar across the country many people will be relieved to hear that these rules may soon be relaxed – at least somewhat.

On Monday afternoon the Italian government’s panel of scientific experts, the Scientific Technical Committee (CTS), is holding a meeting to discuss potential changes to the mask-wearing rules, the health ministry said.

The review comes as Italy allowed more regions to drop most coronavirus restrictions on Monday, after health data showed the infection rate was still falling nationwide.

READ ALSO: What you need to know if you’re travelling to Italy in summer 2021

At the moment, the Italian rules state that masks must be worn at all times when out of the house, indoors and outdoors, “except in cases where, due to the characteristics of the place or the circumstances, isolation is continuously guaranteed.”

Italian media reports on Monday suggest that July 5th is being considered as a possible date for dropping the requirement for masks to be worn in outdoor public places.

The expert panel may also be considering removing the rule a week earlier, on Monday June 28th, the first day on which the whole of Italy will be under ‘white zone’ rules – which mean most health measures can be lifted.

Though all regions except one are already in the low-risk ‘white zone’, the mask-wearing rule is among the few restrictions which remain in place under this tier.

If these rules are eased, social distancing is expected to remain in place and masks will still be required when in crowded outdoor areas, such as markets, according to media reports, as concerns remain high in Italy about a potential rise in new coronavirus cases fuelled by the Delta variant.

READ ALSO: Delta variant in Italy: What’s the risk of another Covid-19 surge?

While few cases caused by the new variant have been confirmed in Italy so far, the country analyses a relatively small number of tests to identify the virus strain behind infections.

Italy’s health authorities will increase the number of tests being sequenced from this week in order to help identify potential outbreaks, news agency Ansa reports.

Amid concern about new variants, Italy has from Monday extended a ban on travel from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and brought in a five-day quarantine requirement for arrivals from the UK.

Italy has been reporting around 2,000 new daily infections on average nationwide since June 7th – the lowest figures seen since September 2020.

Italy has fully vaccinated almost 30 percent of the population over 12 years old as of Monday, official figures show.

In total, more than 46 million vaccine doses have been administered in Italy, though health authorities warn that one dose may not offer sufficient protection from Delta and other variants.

Member comments

  1. I live in a US state in which covid is basically over. Nobody is wearing masks inside or out, in groups or not. Our cases are nearly zero as well as our deaths. There are currently 34 people in hospital out of a population of 2 million. I’m vaccinated and am wondering why I’m so dangerous to visit Italy without quarantining or changing my October flight to a “covid free flight,” which i’m sure will be more expensive, hard to find and frankly a completely unnecessary hassle. Maybe someone can tell me why this is the case.

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HEALTH

Covid-19 still causing 1,000 deaths a week in Europe, WHO warns

The World Health Organization's European office warned on Tuesday the risk of Covid-19 has not gone away, saying it was still responsible for nearly 1,000 deaths a week in the region. And the real figure may be much higher.

Published: 27 June 2023 13:27 CEST
Covid-19 still causing 1,000 deaths a week in Europe, WHO warns

The global health body on May 5 announced that the Covid-19 pandemic was no longer deemed a “global health emergency.”

“Whilst it may not be a global public health emergency, however, Covid-19 has not gone away,” WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge told reporters.

The WHO’s European region comprises 53 countries, including several in central Asia.

“Close to 1,000 new Covid-19 deaths continue to occur across the region every week, and this is an underestimate due to a drop in countries regularly reporting Covid-19 deaths to WHO,” Kluge added, and urged authorities to ensure vaccination coverage of at least 70 percent for vulnerable groups.

Kluge also said estimates showed that one in 30, or some 36 million people, in the region had experienced so called “long Covid” in the last three years, which “remains a complex condition we still know very little about.”

“Unless we develop comprehensive diagnostics and treatment for long Covid, we will never truly recover from the pandemic,” Kluge said, encouraging more research in the area which he called an under-recognised condition.

Most countries in Europe have dropped all Covid safety restrictions but some face mask rules remain in place in certain countries in places like hospitals.

Although Spain announced this week that face masks will no longer be required in certain healthcare settings, including hospitals and pharmacies, with a couple of exceptions.

Sweden will from July 1st remove some of its remaining Covid recommendations for the public, including advice to stay home and avoid close contact with others if you’re ill or have Covid symptoms.

The health body also urged vigilance in the face of a resurgence of mpox, having recorded 22 new cases across the region in May, and the health impact of heat waves.

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