From the postponement of the curfew to a further relaxation of the restrictive measures up to a gradual reopening of many activities. The week that opens today is a crucial week, also by virtue of numbers considered “decidedly improving” on the front of the Covid 19 pandemic.
The government is defining the time schedule for the new reopening: from weddings to sports, from indoor restaurants to the easing of the curfew to shopping centers on weekends. While the Ministry of Health is thinking about a possible modification of the Rt index that could otherwise postpone some regions in orange despite the positive trend on hospitalizations and infections. Meanwhile, the weekend, thanks to the summer weather, was characterized by crowded beaches and nightlife areas, with many interventions by the police who yesterday sanctioned 1,500 people.
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Weddings
Among the sectors that are clamoring for a restart is that of marriages, which complains of high losses due to the blocking of ceremonies. For the wedding, the Regions aim to restart as early as 1 June with the guidelines developed, which include outdoor banquets, strictly spaced guests and all with masks. But a more likely date is that of June 15, also for the use of the restaurants indoors.
Swimming pools and gyms
The green light to indoor pools could instead take place earlier. Obviously, everything is conditioned by a careful analysis of epidemiological data from 26 April. The date of May 15th is scheduled to reopen the outdoor pools and on June 1st it will be possible to return to the gym. But no date has been set for the indoor pools. The problem, in this case, concerns the shared spaces, from changing rooms to showers. The alternative is limited entry: this could allow the opening from 1 June also for indoor plants.
Restaurants, bars and cafes at the counter
As for the indoor restaurants, coffee at the counter and the extension of the curfew (at 11pm or midnight depending on which line will prevail in the Government), the news could start as early as Monday 17 May. But these are still divisive points within the majority and Prime Minister Draghi will therefore have to find a synthesis as happened for the reopening of April 26 last. The political control room that will decide will meet in the middle of the week. The measures will then go to the Council of Ministers. For the moment, what is written in the last decree is valid and therefore the rules in force since April 26: customers for bars and restaurants only outdoors. From 1 June it will be possible to stay indoors even indoors, but always seated at the table. More problematic, however, is the consumption of coffee with bacon.
Curfew
Italy is one of the countries in Europe that still has a strict curfew in force (currently from 10pm to 5am). A lightening is under discussion, with the postponement of the curfew at 11pm or 12pm. Everything will depend on the monitoring of data on Friday: the control room will meet to take stock of the contagion situation and check the weekly trend of the epidemiological curve. At that point and with positive data, from May 17 the curfew could be postponed by two hours, from midnight to 5. In Spain, meanwhile, the cancellation of the curfew has generated problems: with cans of beer and bottles of wine in hand, between dances, hugs and choirs at the top of their lungs: so from Madrid (photo) to Barcelona, from Malaga to Salamanca, thousands of young people in Spain celebrated the end of the curfew all night on the street, as if it were a New Year anticipated in May. The videos tell of gatherings without masks and distancing, although on Friday there were an average of 198 positives per 100,000 inhabitants. And in the reports of the police there are attacks, injuries and arrests, 16 only in Palma de Mallorca. Curfew, quarantine, drinks at the bar: it is above all on these rules that the government will discuss in the control room scheduled for tomorrow or Wednesday, in view of the changes to the decree in force from 26 April. “I want to reopen safely”, reiterated Prime Minister Mario Draghi, renewing the invitation to foreign tourists to book their holidays in Italy. The key date is that of May 14: if the monitoring on Friday confirms the constant descent of the epidemiological curve, the calendar will be revised and the obligation of isolation for those returning from abroad will fall as early as the following day. And from May 17, the curfew could be postponed by two hours, from midnight to 5.
Criteria for the yellow bands
The Regions ask to change the evaluation criteria to remain in the yellow band. In particular, they would like to give a lower value to the contagiousness index Rt. Currently, beyond 1 you enter the orange band, if instead it exceeds 1.25 the red zone is triggered. The most concrete hypothesis is to leave the thresholds unchanged, but to facilitate the regions at risk that have a greater number of vaccinated people, especially among the over 70. According to this criterion, all of Italy could already be yellow on Friday.