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Man with mouth protection on the Piazza del Popolo in Rome: New measures until November 24th
Photo: Antonio Masiello / Getty Images
In light of a new record high in new infections, Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has announced new restrictions in everyday life.
Nationwide cinemas, theaters and concert halls have to close from Monday.
There is a curfew from 6 p.m. for restaurants and bars, after which they can continue to work for delivery services or offer take-away meals.
Fitness studios, swimming pools and ski resorts are no longer allowed to open.
The measures should initially apply until November 24th.
The new measures also affect schools.
Classes must now be held online for at least 75 percent of high school students.
The Conte government also urgently recommends that you refrain from receiving guests at home and from non-urgent travel.
Museums can therefore remain open, but with a limited number of visitors.
The government is waiving a new nationwide curfew.
Shops and most companies are also allowed to continue operating.
The daily newspaper "La Repubblica" calls the new measures "a kind of semi-lockdown".
"If we stick to the rules now, we will have a merry Christmas," said Conte, according to the newspaper report.
"We must do what we can to protect our health and economy together".
Italy, which was badly hit during the first wave of infections in spring, reported a new infection record of almost 20,000 new infections on Saturday.
In recent days there had been violent protests in Rome and Naples against existing regional restrictions, on the edge of which there were also clashes between demonstrators and the police.
Several people were arrested.
Companies had expressed concern about new restrictions affecting their business situation.
Italy had been one of the hardest hit countries in Europe at the start of the pandemic.
Recently, the number of infections rose sharply again.
The official number of new infections was on Saturday at a record high of 19,644.
This brings the total number of infections since the beginning of the pandemic to 504,509.
The number of deaths related to Covid 19 disease increased to 37,210.
Europe is resisting the second wave
Rapidly increasing corona numbers are also driving other countries in Europe to increasingly tough measures against the pandemic.
Belgium, the Czech Republic and France reported record levels of new infections over the weekend.
They are bracing themselves against the second wave with curfews and new requirements, similar to France, Italy, Spain and Austria.
In France, with 45,000 new infections per day on the weekend, the previous high was also exceeded.
Since Saturday there has been a night curfew for around two thirds of the country's residents, i.e. around 46 million people.
Spain is also facing renewed exit restrictions: The government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declared a national emergency on Sunday.
Several Spanish regions had asked the central government to take the step in order to have a legal basis for curfews.
In view of the exponential increase in corona cases in the northern hemisphere, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged governments to "act immediately" to prevent unnecessary deaths.
The increase in the number of cases leads to the overloading of hospitals and intensive care units, said Tedros on Friday.
"And we are only in October."
The number of corona deaths registered worldwide rose to more than 1.51 million on Sunday.
The number of officially reported infections was almost 42.7 million.
With more than 224,000 corona deaths, the USA continues to be number one of the countries in the world hardest hit by the pandemic.
On Saturday, the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore reported a new high of almost 89,000 new infections.
A good week before the presidential election, the corona crisis is a key issue in the country’s election campaign.
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jus / dpa / AFP
