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Premier Conte in Parliament
Photo: STEFANO CAROFEI / imago images / Independent Photo Agency Int.
Italy is reacting with further restrictions to the drastically increasing corona infections in the country.
The infection process is serious, in some regions more, in others less, said Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in front of the Chamber of Deputies, the larger of the two chambers of parliament in Rome.
Stricter restrictions are required.
It is quite possible that the capacities of intensive care beds in 15 of 20 regions will be exhausted within a month.
The situation is "very worrying," said Conte.
So far, however, no general and nationwide shutdown has been planned.
However, restrictions are required in order to get the number of new infections under control again.
The measures taken by the center-left government in detail:
New
night curfews
.
However, Conte has not yet given the times.
The whole country is divided into
three risk
zones.
Even stricter regulations would be issued specifically for zones with a very high risk of infection.
Travel in and out of high-risk zones
should be restricted - with the exception of journeys with important reasons.
A national
upper limit for public transport
: a maximum of 50 percent of the spaces may be occupied.
Large shopping centers
are expected to close on public holidays and weekends.
Less face-to-face teaching in higher schools
, knowledge should be conveyed online.
According to Conte, some of the new rules will apply across Italy.
Most recently there was talk of lockdowns in Corona hotspots such as Milan and some regions.
However, Conte did not name any specific locations for which special rules could apply.
The corresponding new emergency decree, however, was not ready by Monday noon.
There had been a lot of controversy between the government and the heads of the 20 regions.
Conte also wanted to speak in the Senate, the smaller chamber of parliament, that evening.
"We have 48 hours to try to get the tightening on the way," Health Minister Roberto Speranza told the Corriere della Sera newspaper on Sunday.
"There are too many people on the way."
You have to convince the Italians to stay at home as much as possible.
The intensive care units are not yet about to collapse, but the pressure is increasing.
The regional president of Lombardy, Attilio Fontana, demanded uniform national guidelines.
The government had already tightened its measures to contain the corona pandemic several times in the course of October.
Theaters and cinemas have been closed for a week.
Bars and restaurants are only allowed to serve guests until 6 p.m.
The country with a population of 60 million had registered around 30,000 new infections in 24 hours on Sunday.
In addition, around 200 people died with or from Covid-19.
Italy was hit hardest by the pandemic in Europe in the spring and had a week-long shutdown.
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as / dpa / Reuters
