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Cateno De Luca in front of his tent: he has already submitted his resignation as mayor of Messina
Photo: CARMELO IMBESI / EPA
The corona situation in Italy is tense, the omicron wave has gripped the country.
However, not everyone understands the stricter rules in the fight against the pandemic.
The mayor of Messina has gone on a hunger strike to protest the government's corona measures.
Cateno De Luca had already set up a tent in the port of the Sicilian city over the weekend, where he has been staying ever since.
He wants to symbolically block the Strait of Messina, a strait between Sicily and mainland Italy.
On Tuesday morning, the 49-year-old announced the start of the hunger strike, as he announced on Facebook.
De Luca is protesting against the so-called Super Green Pass, i.e. the 2G rule, according to which only those who have been vaccinated or have recovered can reach or leave the Mediterranean island on ferries or planes.
The politician claims that the state is holding Sicily "prisoner".
On Monday he had already submitted his resignation as mayor for the beginning of February.
The government in Rome issued stricter rules on January 10th to curb the spread of the corona virus and to get even more people who refuse to vaccinate to rethink.
The 2G rule now applies in hotels, convention centers, restaurants, ski lifts and local and long-distance transport.
Almost 80 percent of Italians have received a full basic immunization so far.
The government has been tightening the corona rules step by step for months.
Corona vaccinations are now compulsory for people over the age of 50.
Nevertheless, Italy has high infection rates.
On Monday, the number of new infections was more than 83,000.
In the meantime, the country even recorded more than 190,000 cases a day.
The situation in the hospitals is tense.
asc/dpa
