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COVID-19 GREEN PASS

Where in Italy you still need to show the ‘super green pass’

Italy has relaxed the use of its Covid health pass, but you still need to show the 'reinforced' version or 'super green pass' in many venues across the country. Here's what it is and where you need to show it.

Published: 5 April 2022 14:32 CEST
Where in Italy you still need to show the 'super green pass'
You still need a super green pass in some venues across Italy. (Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP)

Italian authorities changed the rules on the Covid-19 health certificate on April 1st, as part of the government’s plan to end the current Covid restrictions by early summer.

Since it was introduced last August, the green pass has been extended several times with the rules around its use changing according to the government’s assessments of the health situation.

READ ALSO: How do Italy’s Covid rules change in April?

Now, ministers plan to phase it out by June under the country’s roadmap back to normality, detailed in the recently-approved decreto riapertura, or ‘reopening decree’.

But even though health measures are easing, the green pass system is still in place for some weeks yet.

Here’s what the ‘super green pass’ is, where you still need to show it and for how long.

What is the super green pass?

Italy’s so-called ‘reinforced’ or ‘super’ green pass proves the holder is vaccinated against or has recovered from Covid-19 – it cannot be obtained via a negative test result.

It was once a requirement in almost all venues across Italy, including on public transport, but its use is now being phased out over the coming weeks.

A bar owner scans a green pass in central Rome. Photo: Andreas SOLARO / AFP

Where do you need it?

Right now, it remains a requirement at all indoor public venues.

Until April 30th, you’ll need to show proof of vaccination or recovery from Covid-19 to attend competitions in indoor sports halls (also wearing an Ffp2 mask), for parties held indoors such as birthdays, graduations and weddings for example.

Film and theatre goers will need to show a super green pass if the event is indoors – again with an Ffp2 mask. Discos require the super green pass for entry, where you’ll be allowed to go in with just a surgical mask that you can only remove when dancing.

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You’ll also need to show this health certificate at swimming pools, gyms and indoor health centres, for practising team and contact sports indoors, attending conferences or entering betting shops, bingo halls and casinos.

For the latest full rundown of where you need to show a super green pass, see this table published by the Italian government.

What happens from May 1st?

The next phase begins in May, which will see the super green pass largely scrapped.

The only place you’ll still need this version of the health certificate is for visiting friends or relatives in hospitals or care homes, which is set to stay in place until the end of the year.

How do I get the super green pass?

If you were vaccinated or recovered from Covid-19 in Italy, you shouldn’t need to do anything at all.

It is not a new certification, so if you already have it, you only need to present your valid green pass from vaccination or recovery to the venues that require it.

If you’re a visitor and have a health certificate from another country, you will likely not need to obtain an Italian green pass either.

Italy recognises proof of vaccination issued anywhere in the world on par with its own ‘super’ green pass, so the vaccination certificate issued in your home country (such as a US CDC card) should get you into any venue in Italy that is subject to this requirement.

You’ll need to check the expiry date of your health pass to ensure it’s not about to run out.. Once you have the booster – or if you’ve had two shots and then recovered from Covid, the green pass has unlimited validity in Italy.

For the full guide on green passes for visitors, see here.

What if I’m not vaccinated or recovered from Covid?

In this case, you can’t get a super green pass and therefore are excluded from certain venues.

There is an increasing amount of places you can access with proof of a negative test only – which will provide you with a ‘basic’ green pass.

Reader question: Do I need a Covid green pass for my trip to Italy?

For details on which sites you can now access with this basic green pass, see our guide on green passes.

It’s important to bear in mind that some of these rules can vary from one part of Italy to another as regional authorities may introduce stricter requirements of their own.

Find more information about Italy’s Covid-19 health restrictions on the Italian health ministry’s website (available in English).

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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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