Traveling at Christmas, what can be done and what not

With the stop to travel between Regions started today, the Christmas bans come into force, even if for another two days it will be possible to have a coffee at the bar, have lunch at the restaurant, make the last few gifts and move around in your own Region without any

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From 24 December, Italy will instead be all in the red zone and will remain there from Christmas Eve until 27 December, from 30 December to 3 January and again on 5 and 6 January, ten days in all in which there will be, in fact, in a generalized lockdown.

At the moment, however, no further restrictive measures are planned, after the discovery of the English variant of the virus that spreads much faster: the stop to flights from Great Britain should not be followed by a tightening of the bans already in place and this, government sources point out, basically for two reasons.

We are not in the conditions of the United Kingdom, with 35 thousand cases a day, and above all the bans foreseen for the Christmas holidays will soon be triggered, which impose already very stringent measures.

In the next few hours, flights to and from Holland and Luxembourg could also be blocked, said the Undersecretary of the Interior Carlo Sibilia, however specifying that it will be a decision at European level.

So the work that is being done at this time is to track down as many subjects as possible who may have contracted the English variant of the virus and isolate them.

Only for the beginning of January, if this were not enough and if the cases were to increase, it will be considered whether to extend the restrictions or introduce others, starting from school.

From the 24th Italy will therefore be all in the red zone: bars, restaurants and shops will be closed - with the exception of supermarkets and foodstuffs, pharmacies and parapharmacies, newsstands, tobacconists and bookstores -, you can go out for a walk near the house with the mask and do sporting activities alone, self-certification will be required for the only movements allowed, that is to say those for proven reasons of work, health or necessity or to return to your residence or domicile.

However, the government has introduced an exception to the travel bans, the one that allows for the entire Christmas period (24-6 January) to a maximum of two people - plus any children under 14, disabled people and non self-sufficient people living with them - to move only once a day to visit relatives or friends.

On this point, two clarifications came from the government, which updated the Faq on the Palazzo Chigi website.

The first concerns the possibility, in the 10 'red' days, of being able to visit friends and relatives even in a municipality other than that of residence, as long as it is always in the same region and always within the maximum limit of two people.

The second, on the other hand, concerns small municipalities under 5 thousand inhabitants: on the days indicated with orange during the Christmas holidays (28-29-30 December and 4 January) it will be possible for those who live there to go to another region, always however, within 30 km from your residence and without going to the provincial capitals.

A clarification to allow all those who live in neighboring areas not to be cut off from the possibility of meeting people who live in a town a few kilometers away but in another region.

The government has also clarified the question of second homes: between now and January 6 "the movements of a family unit living together to second homes are always allowed, from 5 to 22, within their own region and always prohibited to others Regions ".

As for spouses or partners who live separated for work reasons, it will be possible to meet, "if the place for reunification is the one in which there is residence, domicile or home".

And the movements of separated parents are also allowed, who can also visit their children in another region or abroad: it is one of the reasons of necessity, as is assistance to non self-sufficient parents.

On the other hand, it is never allowed to visit parents who are in good health and live in another region, just as "extra-regional travel for tourism" is not allowed between 21 December and 6 January.