From tomorrow, Monday 28/06, all of Italy (including, that is, the small northwestern region of Valle d'Aosta) becomes a “white zone”. At the same time, the use of a protective mask in open spaces is no longer mandatory, with the sole exception of crowded places.
In the meantime, however, the authorities urge citizens to be especially careful and to continue to keep safe distances, due to the increased risk of the “Delta” variant. According to new estimates, this variant was detected in 16% of infections.
The family doctors and the Ministry of Health appeal to the citizens to go on vacation only after completing their vaccination cycle. At the same time, they are asking all residents of the country over the age of sixty who have not yet been vaccinated (estimated to be around 2.5 million) to do so as soon as possible.
The president of the Italian Higher Institute of Health, Silvio Bruzafero, stressed that “from tomorrow the mandatory use of the mask in open spaces will be abolished, but if the infections increase, new restrictions will have to be adopted”.
Vincenzo de Luca, governor of Campania (capital of Naples), has already decided, however, that citizens will not be able to wear a mask only when they are sure that they are far away from other people. “This means that in our region the mask should remain mandatory in 90% of cases,” De Luca added.
Even today, however, coronavirus cases continue to decline. In the last twenty-four hours, 782 cases were recorded and 14 people lost their lives.
The commissioner in charge of the vaccination campaign, General Paolo Filiuolo, finally said he was confident that “by the end of September, 80% of the country's population will have been vaccinated”.
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