The numbers tell of a shattered negative record: yesterday in Italy there were 44,595 cases of contagion from Covid-19 in 24 hours. Never have there been so many infections since the start of the pandemic. Winter and the Omicron variant feel. And therefore the government is taking action with new restrictive measures.
SINCE FEBRUARY
Green certificate, validity now drops to 6 months
To push the Italians towards the third dose, the only real barrier against Omicron, as quickly as possible, the government has decided to reduce the validity of the Green Pass from 9 to 6 months. But the abridged version will only come into force starting on February 1st, to avoid putting their backs to the wall the approximately three million green certificate exodus, which on January 1st would have found themselves with the pass already expired because they have been immunized for more weather.
VACCINES
The third dose after 4 months from the second
Again to speed up the pro booster campaign, an order by the Minister of Health, Roberto Speranza, will shortly reduce the minimum time interval from the second dose to administer the third from 5 to 4 months. A further acceleration of the booster which however risks making the waiting times for vaccinations even longer, which for the third dose in many regions already reach until February or March.
PROTECTIONS
Outdoor masks and Ffp2 on buses
Until January 31, all over Italy, including the white regions, the obligation to wear a mask is back even outdoors. Instead, the more protective Ffp2 will be needed for theaters, concert halls, cinemas, entertainment venues and live music but also for stadiums and sports halls. All places where it will also be forbidden to consume food and drinks indoors. Ffp2 will also be mandatory for traveling on trains, airplanes, ships, buses and subways.
FREE TIME
Super Green Pass also for museums, gyms and swimming pools
The reinforced Green Pass, issued only to vaccinated and cured, from now on becomes essential even just to have a coffee at the bar, as well as to access gyms, indoor swimming pools, museums, exhibitions, wellness centers, spas, theme and amusement parks, social and recreational centers, game rooms, bingo and casinos. In restaurants and bars, the Super Green Pass, already in force for dining seated indoors, is extended until March 31st.
AMONG THE BENCHES
A screening to allow you to go back to school
The return to class from the Christmas holidays after holidays and family gatherings worries the government, which has rejected the virologists’ proposal to extend the school holidays, but with the decree it allocates a total of 23.5 million to start a large screening campaign. with carpet pads before resuming lessons. The support to the Regions for tracing the positives will come from the military, who for this purpose will be able to confer six-month assignments to biologists, chemists and physicists.
NEW YEAR’S
Discos closed and there is a ban on outdoor parties
There is no dancing on New Year’s Eve. In fact, the decree with a last minute decision closes the discos, dance halls and similar venues until January 31st. The Christmas decree also prohibits parties, big balls and big concerts at the end of the year, which many mayors had already decided to cancel without waiting for the government’s decisions. From here until the end of January, events, concerts and parties, however named, are also forbidden, taking place in places open to the public.
VISITS TO RELATIVES
Access to RSA only with three doses or two and a buffer
To access the RSA and Hospices, the reinforced Green Pass, the one granted to vaccinated and recovered people, will no longer be enough. From now on, to visit loved ones it will also be necessary to prove that you have received the third dose. Those who stopped at the second, in addition to the Green Pass will also have to show the negative result of a rapid or molecular swab. Allocated 4.8 million to propagate vaccinations in pharmacies throughout 2023.
TRIPS
Sample tests for those arriving from foreign countries
To contain the long wave of Omicron, the maritime, air and border health offices, as well as the assistance offices for the flight personnel of the Ministry of Health, will carry out antigen or molecular tests on a sample basis to travelers arriving from abroad at airports, ports and railway stations. In the event of a positive test result, the traveler will have to put himself in fiduciary self-isolation for 10 days and if he is not in a position to do so he will be directed to a Covid-hotel.