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The Italian government will impose the mandatory use of a mask, even outdoors, and will extend the state of emergency until January 31, 2021, Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza said on Tuesday.
The mandatory use of a mask, even outdoors, and greater control of possible crowds of people are the measures in addition to those already planned in Italy. after infections by the new coronavirus soared in recent weeks in the country, reaching an average of 2,600 per day.
The measure of wearing masks at all times had already been applied in regions such as Lazio, whose capital is Rome, Campania, Basilicata and Calabria. At the time, other measures, such as early closure of stores and restaurants, are not being studied.
The Italian Minister of Health also declared, during an intervention in the Chamber of Deputies, that these The measures will be voted on Wednesday through a decree from the Prime Minister., after consulting the representatives of the regions.
In addition, controls will be increased because, according to the minister, “crowds are a real risk that we cannot afford,” although he has not said whether he will use the army to do so, according to some media.
Speranza explained that “Italy, together with Germany, it is better than the rest of European countries and is responding better to the second waveBut he warned that “there should be no illusions.”
It would be profoundly wrong to think that we are out of place because we deal with that many infections. It would be a mistake, a risk and a totally private foundation assessment ”, he clarified.
The minister explained that this new measure is applied because “Italy is going through a phase of progressive growth in numbers in the last nine weeks.”
Speranza added that compared to the months of March and April, when the virus hit mainly the northern regions and became more circumscribed, now “in this second wave, the novelty is that the growth is generalized and affects all the territories that they had been saved in the previous phase ”.
“In two months there was a huge increase in cases: today there are 3,487 hospitalized and we have 323 people in intensive care. These numbers are now sustainable for our healthcare system. It is clear that in the most difficult days with 4,000 people in intensive care, the situation is manageable, but we cannot stop seeing the trend, the virus circulates ”, he said.
Speranza explained that, in addition, in the first phase the average age of the cases was 70 years and now it is 41 years, and even in this case the trend is not reassuring because in August the average age of infection was 31 years.
By extending the state of emergency, which expires on October 15 and will be debated in Parliament, Speranza argued that it corresponds to the state in which the country is located. The minister also stressed the need to maintain “the institutional structures that have been created in recent months.”
