The Italian Ministry of Health has issued a new ordinance following a recent gradual increase in Covid-19 cases throughout the country.
All indoor and outdoor nightclubs and dance halls in Italy will be closed until further notice and dancing will not be permitted at bathing establishments, on beaches, on hotel premises and in all places open to the public.
An additional restriction to curtail infections obliges the use of face protection between 6pm and 6am in outdoor areas belonging to businesses and places open to the public as well as in public spaces, such as squares, streets and seaside promenades where people tend to gather due to the physical nature of the space.
“The infection rate in Italy, albeit one of the lowest in Europe, is increasing. We can’t jeopardize the sacrifices we have made in recent months,” reads a comment by the minister for health, Roberto Speranza, on his Facebook page. “Our priority has to be to reopen schools in September in the utmost safety.”
The new regulations will enter into force on August 17. These measures are in addition to the minimum Covid-19 measures that are already in effect: mask wearing in all indoor public spaces, including in shops and on public transport, and on all occasions when social distancing of 1 metre cannot be maintained (children under six years and the disabled are exempt); persons with a body temperature exceeding 37.5 degrees must remain at home and contact their GP; persons must not gather in groups in public parks and gardens.
Read the current legislation (in Italian) here.
