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COVID-19 RULES

Italy set to make Covid green pass mandatory for entry to ‘non-essential’ shops

The Italian government is drawing up a new decree this week which will make its Covid-19 health pass a requirement for entry to most shops, in addition to other venues and services already covered by the rules.

People walk past a shop in central Rome.
All except the most essential shops in Italy will soon have to ask customers to show a health pass under incoming rules.  Photo: Vincenzo Pinto/AFP

Starting next month, Italy’s green pass (either the ‘reinforced’ or ‘super’ pass showing proof of vaccination, or the basic version accessible via a negative test result) is expected to be made a requirement for entry to all businesses and venues except for essential shops and services such as supermarkets, national broadcaster Rai reports.

The government on Tuesday is holding talks on whether certain shops, such as newsagents and tobacconists, should require passes for entry.

The list of exempt businesses, set to be specified in a new decree this week, will reportedly include food shops, pharmacies, opticians and stores selling fuel.

READ ALSO: At a glance: What Covid-19 rules are now in place in Italy?

This will mean access to almost all businesses, service or venue in the country require some form of the health pass , after Italy tightened its rules on January 10th.

From that date, proof of vaccination against or recovery from Covid-19 (not a negative test result) has been required to access venues including restaurants, bars, hotels, ski resorts, museums, galleries, cinemas and sports stadiums, as well as all forms of public transport.

Italy has also made jabs mandatory for all over-50s who are resident in the country, with those who refuse to get vaccinated to face fines from February 1st. Some groups of workers including police and healthcare staff are also subject to a vaccination mandate.

Food shops will be exempt from Italy’s pass requirement. Photo: Miguel MEDINA / AFP

The green pass takes the form of a QR code that can be scanned and checked by public sector and service industry workers, who can face police fines for failing to enforce the rules.

EXPLAINED: How do Italy’s Covid vaccination rules apply to visitors?

It’s not yet known when the new decree will come into force. An announcement is expected later this week.

The new rules are expected to apply nationwide, regardless of the zone a region is in under Italy’s four-tiered system of risk classifications.

The Italian government is “reconsidering” the use of its system of white, yellow, orange and red ‘zones’, which has been in place since November 2020.

It’s not yet known whether the tiered system will be altered or scrapped altogether, as the government’s strategy for dealing with the pandemic relies increasingly on vaccinations rather than business closures and lockdown measures.

For the moment, the coloured tier system remains in place with most of the country designated a ‘yellow’ zone as of Monday.

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.

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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