Italy closed until the end of the month and the rules for reopening

Italy remains closed until May and from Monday more than half of the country will be in the red zone, adding Calabria, Tuscany and Valle d’Aosta to the 7 regions and the autonomous province of Trento in which the toughest restrictions are already in force. A breath of fresh air only for the inhabitants and merchants of Lazio that from Tuesday, March 30, returns in orange until the closings scheduled for the Easter weekend.

And even after Easter, the government confirms the line of maximum rigor: the reversal trend of the pandemic curve is not enough, yesterday there were still 24 thousand new cases and 450 deaths. Therefore, the government will extend the current decree in force early next week after Monday’s meeting with the Regions, and will assess the trend of the contagion curve no earlier than mid-month.

The only concession is planned for the school: kindergartens, elementary schools will reopen, and even sixth-grade students will be able to return to face-to-face classes even in the red zone regions. In the orange areas, all students through eighth grade and 50% of high school students will be in the classroom.

All other rules remain virtually unchanged: until April 30, therefore, no movement between regions and the abolition of the yellow zone until the end of the month will only require take-out for bar and restaurant activities. Thus, the reopening of cinemas and theaters has also been postponed, which as of March 27 could have reopened with a capacity of 25% and with pre-assigned seats also in the yellow zones.

Also next week no region in the white zone since no region respects the “parameters” that would have allowed the reopening of gyms and swimming pools, as well as the relaxation of the curfew and the opening of restaurants at night. All that remains is to wait for the polls on Friday after Easter to understand if any promotion can be done, but it is difficult to do it before May, since it takes at least 3 weeks with minimal infections for the reopening to begin.

The closings in Italy waiting for the summer

The Minister of Health, Roberto Speranza, speaks of a still delicate situation, which justifies the option of extending the tightening for one more month as requested by the experts in the control room of the Ministry of Health and Regions. A decision that caused tensions in the majority with the leader of the Lega Matteo Salvini who asked the Permier Draghi to consider the possibility of safely reopening activities at least in those regions and cities “with the health situation under control.”

The warning came from Draghi during the press conference that announced the extension of the measures: “The decision depends on the data,” explains the premier, referring to the follow-up “week by week” and without excluding “changes in progress.” But given the state of the pandemic and the delayed vaccines, it is likely that until April 30, when the state of emergency in force since January of last year expires, nothing will change. That will be the occasion to define the duration of the extension and a gradual panorama of the reopening.

The map of Italy: 5 high risk regions and 13 with Rt above 1

Therefore, it remains a red-orange colored Italy: as of Monday, March 29, Calabria, Tuscany and Valle D’Aosta will be added to the band with the maximum restrictions where Campania, Emilia Romagna, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lombardy , Marche, Veneto are already located. the provinces of Trento and Puglia. Region, the latter, where President Michele Emiliano signed an ordinance that introduces more restrictions: do not move to second homes, stores close at 6 in the afternoon, increasing smart work for public employees.

On the other hand, the red zone ordinance for the Lazio Region expires and will change to orange as of Tuesday, March 30 thanks to an Rt index that has fallen below the threshold of 1 (0.97): therefore , there will be 8 regions in this orange band in addition to the province of Bolzano. However, many regions have entire municipalities in the red zone. In Sicily, for example, President Nello Musumeci signed the ordinance for three municipalities in the Agrigento area – Comitini, Racalmuto and Siculiana – and Centirupe nell’ennese, joining Caltavuturo and San Mauro Castelverde. In Sardinia, on the other hand, there are 7, with Pozzomaggiore in the Sassari province joining Golfo Aranci, Uri, Bono, Sindia, Samugheo and Sarroch.

What changes between the red zone and the orange zone?

So what are the rules for next week? What are the differences and what can (and cannot) be done in the orange and red zones?

• Visits to family and friends in Red zone are prohibited, except from April 3 to 5 in the region and following the rules of the orange zone. In orange zone It is allowed, in the municipal term and in compliance with the curfew (5-22), to move to a single inhabited private house, once a day, within the limits of two additional people (excluding children under 14 years of age, disabled or not autonomous). -enough people living together) compared to those already living there.
• In red zone shops are closed of clothing, footwear and jewelry. Stop at the markets, except for the sale of food, agricultural and horticultural products only. Also stop hairdressers, barbers and beauty centers. The grocery stores remain open. In the orange zone there are no restrictions on the categories of products that can be purchased. On holidays and the eve of holidays, the shops within the markets and shopping centers are closed. Impossible to go out to eat or have a coffee inside a bar in the red zone: these activities are in fact closed to the public. Home delivery or take away is always possible. For bars, take-out is only allowed until 6pm, for wine bars and restaurants until 10pm.
• Bars and restaurants They are also closed to the public in the orange area. It is always possible to take home or home, with the same scheduled times for the areas with the highest risk of covid.
• He displacements? In the red zone you cannot leave home except for proven work, health or need reasons, so you do not travel even within the municipality. Obviously, it is forbidden to go out of the ordinary or outside the region except for the usual reasons of work, health or necessity, which instead allow circulation. The return to the residence, domicile or home is always allowed. In the orange zone you can move freely within your municipality. Here it is also forbidden to leave the region except for reasons of work, health or “justified” needs with the self-certification form that you can download here.
• You can go to second box, in any band (white, orange and red) that they are. As provided in the government’s Faq, you can only go there “the family unit and only if the house is not inhabited by others. You must prove that you are the owner or tenant of the house before January 14, 2021. In the orange zone “. The same applies to the red zone rules. You can go freely to your second home, but without friends or family, as long as you have rented or bought it before January 14. Some regions, however, have also issued restrictive ordinances on second homes.

The rules for Easter and Easter Monday

We also remind you that a general blockade will be applied during the Easter weekend, but with some concessions in the red zone. In short, as established by the decree law in force since March 6, on April 3, 4 and 5, all of Italy will be in the red zone: Easter and Easter Monday – as a result of what happened at Christmas – they have rules, Bans and restrictions on holidays and pre-holidays to stop the spread of the coronavirus

• The curfew will remain unchanged between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., except for work, health or emergency reasons, which will be justified with self-certification.
• The interregional travel ban remains in effect. It will be possible to move from the region of residence only for work, health or emergency reasons. In this case, the movements must be justified with self-certification.
• Visits are granted to family and friends, but only to a single inhabited private house, once a day, within the limit of two more people (excluding children under 14 years of age, disabled people or non-self-sufficient people living together) than those already they live there. .

What will the summer of 2021 be?

However, by announcing the extension of the restrictions, Draghi makes it clear that perhaps the end of the tunnel is beginning to be seen responding to those who asked if he would advise Italians, as did Tourism Minister Massimo Garavaglia, to book their summer vacation. . “I agree with him, if I could go on vacation I would gladly go there.” And it would have been Prime Minister Mario Draghi who proposed in the control room with the majority forces and the leaders of the CTS a verification of the data and the situation in mid-April. A careful monitoring of the numbers and the epidemiological curve – proposed by the Prime Minister – to decide whether to go straight until the end of April with the yellow forbidden zones and all of Italy divided between red and orange, or to drop the tights first. of the grip.

And it is that there would have been some distinctions at the table, especially the perplexity of the League for an extension of the measures that would cover the entire month of April. To prevent the front between “openingists” and “penalty shooters” from heating up, the prime minister would have proposed a check in the middle of the month. The hope is that between the end of spring and the arrival of summer we will see a significant improvement. We will have a different summer than these days with strong restrictions.

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