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COVID-19 RULES

Italy to end Covid state of emergency and cut ‘super green pass’, PM confirms

The Italian government will not extend the Covid-19 state of emergency beyond its current deadline of March 31st, Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on Wednesday.

Published: 23 February 2022 17:41 CET
Italy to end Covid state of emergency and cut ‘super green pass’, PM confirms
Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi. Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP

 “The goal is to open everything back up as soon as possible,” Draghi told a business conference in Florence, according to Italian media reports.

Though ministers have repeatedly indicated that the state of emergency would likely come to an end on that date, the move had not yet been confirmed.

The state of emergency is the condition which has allowed the Italian government to bring in emergency measures by decree over the past two years.

TIMELINE: When will Italy ease its coronavirus restrictions?

While the end of the state of emergency does not necessarily mean the end of all pandemic-related restrictions, the prime minister said the use of the ‘green pass’ health certificate scheme would also be scaled back.

The government will gradually remove the obligation to show proof of vaccination or recovery at many venues under the system, Draghi said, without giving any dates.

Italy currently operates a two-tiered green pass health certificate system, meaning proof of vaccination or recovery is currently needed for access to everything from hotels and restaurants to  public transport and many workplaces in Italy. 

READ ALSO: Where you now need to show a Covid green pass in Italy

“We will gradually put an end to the enhanced green certificate obligation, starting with outdoor activities including fairs, sports, parties and shows,” he said. 

“We will continue to monitor the pandemic situation closely, ready to intervene in case of resurgence.”

Rules on quarantine and the use of higher-grade FFP2 masks in schools are also to be eased in April, he said.

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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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