Italy tightens Covid restrictions amid ‘new wave’

A “new wave” of Covid-19 cases is closing shops, restaurants and schools across Italy from 15 March.

The country has recorded over 150,000 new cases in the past seven days, with 26,824 new Covid-19 infections and 380 deaths on Friday alone.

The office of the Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, said that the entire country would be categorised as a high risk “red zone” on the Easter weekend, with schools, shops and restaurants closing in more than half of the country.

Residents will be required to stay home except for work, health or other essential reasons.

Mr Draghi’s office has also signed a decree that will label areas with more than 250 weekly cases per 100,000 residents as a “red zone”.

Within “red zones”, masks must be worn outside the homes, restaurants must be closed but can serve takeaway food (with restrictions), online essential retail is permitted to be open, and only essential travel is allowed.

“I’m aware that today’s restrictions will have consequences on the education of your children, on the economy and on everyone’s mental health,” Mr Draghi said as he visited a Covid-19 vaccination centre.

“But they’re necessary to avoid a worsening of the situation that would require even stricter measures.”

“Unfortunately, one year after the start of the emergency, there is a new wave of contagion,”

In the last week there have been more than 150,000 infections, compared to 131,000 the previous week, an increase of almost 5,000 people in hospital and 600 in intensive care.

“These figures mean we must adopt the utmost caution to limit the number of deaths and stop health facilities being saturated,” Mr Draghi added.

Sardinia, a large island off the west coast of Italy, is the only region of Italy with low infection rates, classified as a “white zone,” with less than 50 cases per 100,000 of the population.

Italy has recorded nearly 3.2 million cases of Covid since the outbreak began last year, with over 100,000 deaths.

It is the second worse-affected European country after the UK.

Vaccination delays across the European Union have meant that Italy has had to cope with a slow rate of vaccinations, but Mr Draghi is pledging to triple the number of daily vaccinations administered throughout the country as coronavirus cases rise.

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