Italy extends Christmas restrictions until January 15

After shielding itself during Christmas days and given the increase in infections, Italy has decided to extend the restrictions to avoid a rebound in the epidemiological curve.

The government approved at dawn to continue with movement limitations for another week after the holidays.

From the 7th, when in principle the Christmas closing was to be lifted, until January 15, a kind of "bridge period" will be established, as the Executive has called it, throughout the country, which will remain in semi-quarantine on those days.

In between, on the 11th, the system of restrictions differentiated by regions and colors will be returned according to the severity of the health situation: yellow, orange and red, according to the new criteria established by the Higher Institute of Health that will be known next Friday from weekly data.

“We are developing a mechanism that allows the change between colors automatically and faster.

All evaluations, including those that propose a white zone - with hardly any limitations and with cinemas and theaters open - are on the table, we all want to enter the white zone, but we will discuss it at the appropriate time, for now things do not change " , said the Minister for Regional Affairs, Francesco Boccia.

As the health authorities have explained, maintaining the restrictions is the only way to try to alleviate the effects of the greater mobility of holidays and to contain the infections, which are increasing throughout the national territory.

This Monday, 10,800 new cases were registered with just under 78,000 tests carried out, a relatively low number of tests due to the holidays.

Thus, until the 15th, movements between regions will be prohibited, except for justified work or health reasons or for situations of need.

In addition, the curfew will also be maintained at ten o'clock at night.

After the almost total confinement of January 5 and 6, on January 7 and 8 there will be a parenthesis to save consumption and allow some purchases and commercial activities and the country will be in the yellow zone, the first level of restrictions.

Shopping centers will open during normal hours and bars and restaurants, until six in the afternoon.

On the weekend of January 9 and 10, Italy will become an orange zone, the second step of restrictions, which means that bars and restaurants will close, as well as shopping centers and circulation will be limited to the municipality itself.

Delay in opening schools

The reopening of the schools has been the subject most discussed by the Government and it was precisely the lack of agreement between the different coalition formations that caused the debate in the Council of Ministers to drag on until dawn.

Finally, it was decided that half of the second-grade secondary school students, those over 14 years of age, return to the classroom on January 11, instead of the 7, as planned, while the other half should continue to take the distance learning.

The rest of the students, from primary education and lower secondary school, will return to classes on the 7th.

The disagreement had also been total between the different regions.

Some, such as the northern ones in Veneto or Friuli-Venezia Giulia, had announced that they would open classrooms for second-grade secondary school students from January 31, while Campania had already opted for a lap in stages.

Rome is expected to ask regional governments to adhere to national guidelines to standardize the opening of schools throughout the territory.

In addition, the Government will specify in the next few hours the measures it has adopted so that guests of nursing homes or similar structures who are not in a position to express their free will and who lack a guardian can grant their consent to be vaccinated, although at the moment it has not offered more details about it.

Information about the coronavirus

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