Italian government on Monday effected a new phase of lockdown for more than 40 million people due to rise in Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country.
Apart for Sardinia, where hardly any restrictions applied, all Italian regions are subject to the medium-strict rules of an orange zone under Italy’s colour-coded system, or the strictest lockdown rules of a red zone.
In addition to the economically strong Lombardy with its metropolis of Milan and Lazio with its capital Rome, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna also fall into the red zone.
People there are only supposed to leave their homes in urgent cases, such as for shopping, emergencies or work.
Sports in the fresh air are only allowed alone. Pupils have to switch back to lessons via the internet.
“Distance lessons have become unbearable for me, especially after I was allowed to have some face-to-face lessons again,” a pupil from Rome told said.
In view of the Easter holidays, the government under former European Central Bank (ECB) Chief Mario Draghi already decided on Friday that the red zone would apply to the entire country between April 3 and 5.
Most recently, the coronavirus pandemic had worsened in the country of 60 million people, with new infections rising daily and incidence values increasing on a weekly basis.
So far, more than 102,000 people have died as a result of an infection with the coronavirus and authorities have recorded more than 3.223 million cases.
The rules now in force were decided “according to the principle of the greatest possible caution,” the Health Ministry expert, Franco Locatelli said in an interview with Monday’s edition of the newspaper Corriere della Sera.
The aim, he said, was to be in a better epidemiological situation after Easter. Health comes first, even if a socio-economic crisis prevails, Locatelli explained further. (dpa/NAN)
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