As in the first wave of COVID-19, the situation in Italy is worsening again. There are signs that the nation is heading for another lockdown. Tens of thousands of people here are diagnosed with the infection every day. Yesterday alone, 26,000 new COVID-19 cases and 373 deaths were reported in Italy.
Prime Minister Mario Draghi has warned that Italy is facing a new wave of COVID-19. Therefore, the restrictions will be tightened in most parts of the country, he said. As part of this, schools, restaurants, shops and museums in most areas will be closed from Monday.
Draghi, who visited the new vaccination centre at Rome’s Fiumicino airport in Rome, did not provide details of the new control measures. But he said the cabinet had decided to introduce “appropriate and proportionate” restrictions.
Statistics show that there has been an increase of about 15% in infections over the past week. “Utmost caution” is needed to reduce death and stress in the healthcare sector. “The memory of what happened last spring is vivid, and we will do everything to prevent it from happening again,” he added.
More than a million people have died in Italy in a single year
In one year, more than a million people died of COVID pandemic in Italy. The Prime Minister’s Office had earlier confirmed that the high-risk areas would be classified as ‘red zones’ during the Easter weekend between April 3 and 5. The Cabinet has approved new guidelines for classifying red zones.
A government spokesman said everyone should stay indoors, except for for emergencies, work and health reasons. From Monday, each area with more than 250 infected cases per lakh will pass automatically into red. According to the available data, most parts of the country are expected to be ‘red’.
The most populated northern regions of Italy, Lombardy, including Milan, and Lazio, including Rome, are reported to be among those going into the red.
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