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COVID-19 RULES

Italy relaunches ‘green pass’ app to ward off fake Covid-19 passports

Italian authorities have reissued the digital health pass with advice on how to spot replicas, as fake versions are sold online.

Published: 27 July 2021 11:02 CEST
Italy relaunches 'green pass' app to ward off fake Covid-19 passports
(Photo by Pascal POCHARD-CASABIANCA / AFP)

Following Italy’s announcement to expand its Covid-19 health pass to venues such as restaurants, bars, gyms and cinemas, there has been a surge in vaccination bookings.

But as it’s due to come into force in just under two weeks, from August 6th, there have been reports of other tactics to get the pass without meeting the official requirements of getting vaccinated, tested or showing a certificate of recovery from the virus.

 EXPLAINED: When, where and why will you need a Covid health passport in Italy?

In response to fake green passes being sold online, the government tweeted advice with step-by-step photo instructions.

“Green certificate: how to easily recognise the authentic one,” the tweet read.

The authorised app is called ‘VerificaC19‘, which is free to download, and works by scanning the QR code of the green pass.

This provides personal information of the holder and proof that they meet the health criteria to access many venues and cultural sites in Italy.

The list includes museums, galleries, theatres, cinemas, sports stadiums, theme parks, indoor swimming pools, spas, and indoor seating areas at bars and restaurants.

READ ALSO: Italy makes Covid ‘green pass’ mandatory for restaurants, gyms, cinemas and more 

But reports in Italian media have revealed that fake ones are being sold on social networks for between €100 and €200, which can be obtained by only presenting an ID document and a health card (tessera sanitaria).

These fakes bypass the requirements stipulated by the Italian government and those found falsifying the Covid health pass – in either digital or paper format – will face penalties, according to Italian media reports.

One group has been found selling such counterfeit green passes on social media network, Telegram, for around €100, reported newspaper Il Messaggero.

Potential buyers are promised an activated green pass within 48-72 hours without needing to be vaccinated, tested or showing proof of having recovered from Covid-19.

The Telegram group has reportedly gathered more than 14,000 members and, according to the administrators, 1,200 fake Covid health passports have already been sold throughout Italy.

A price list and different payment methods are offered, with the cost rising to €120 for a paper version. Family packages are noted to offer people four or six green passes at a time, at a cost of between €300 to €450.

READ ALSO:

The real VerificaC19 app, which is free to download, shows the name, surname and date of birth of the holder of the green pass.

Photo: Palazzo Chigi/Twitter

It works by download from the Apple or Google app stores and will scan your green pass QR code, in either paper or digital form.

Then the green pass shows it’s valid with a green tick, displaying your personal details underneath.

Failing to check the pass can earn both customers and businesses a fine from €400 to €1,000, while businesses that repeatedly break the rules risk being forced to close for up to ten days.

The green pass will be required for anyone aged 12 and over and, at the moment, Italy’s digital health certificate is only available to people who were vaccinated, tested or recovered in Italy.

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HEALTH

Italy’s schools warned to ‘avoid gatherings’ as Covid cases rise

As Italy’s new school year began, masks and hand sanitiser were distributed in schools and staff were asked to prevent gatherings to help stem an increase in Covid infections.

Published: 11 September 2023 12:48 CEST
Italy’s schools warned to ‘avoid gatherings’ as Covid cases rise

Pupils returned to school in many parts of Italy on Monday and authorities said they were distributing masks and hand sanitiser amid a post-summer increase in the number of recorded cases of Covid–19.

“The advice coming from principals, teachers and janitors is to avoid gatherings of students, especially in these first days of school,” Mario Rusconi, head of Italy’s Principals’ Association, told Rai news on Monday.

He added that local authorities in many areas were distributing masks and hand sanitizer to schools who had requested them.

“The use of personal protective equipment is recommended for teachers and students who are vulnerable,” he said, confirming that “use is not mandatory.”

A previous requirement for students to wear masks in the classroom was scrapped at the beginning of the last academic year.

Walter Ricciardi, former president of the Higher Health Institute (ISS), told Italy’s La Stampa newspaper on Monday that the return to school brings the risk of increased Covid infections.

Ricciardi described the health ministry’s current guidelines for schools as “insufficient” and said they were “based on politics rather than scientific criteria.”

READ ALSO:

Recorded cases of Covid have increased in most Italian regions over the past three weeks, along with rates of hospitalisation and admittance to intensive care, as much of the country returns to school and work following the summer holidays.

Altogether, Italy recorded 21,309 new cases in the last week, an increase of 44 percent compared to the 14,863 seen the week before.

While the World Health Organisation said in May that Covid was no longer a “global health emergency,” and doctors say currently circulating strains of the virus in Italy are not a cause for alarm, there are concerns about the impact on elderly and clinically vulnerable people with Italy’s autumn Covid booster campaign yet to begin.

“We have new variants that we are monitoring but none seem more worrying than usual,” stated Fabrizio Maggi, director of the Virology and Biosafety Laboratories Unit of the Lazzaro Spallanzani Institute for Infectious Diseases in Rome

He said “vaccination coverage and hybrid immunity can only translate into a milder disease in young and healthy people,” but added that “vaccinating the elderly and vulnerable continues to be important.”

Updated vaccines protecting against both flu and Covid are expected to arrive in Italy at the beginning of October, and the vaccination campaign will begin at the end of October, Rai reported.

Amid the increase in new cases, Italy’s health ministry last week issued a circular mandating Covid testing on arrival at hospital for patients with symptoms.

Find more information about Italy’s current Covid-19 situation and vaccination campaign on the Italian health ministry’s website (available in English).

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