Italy announces the adoption of new measures for Covid-19

The Italian government announced on Monday a series of new rules aimed at stopping the spread of Covid-19. Here's what you need to know about the latest decree, which includes travel restrictions between regions.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has resisted growing pressure to impose a new economically damaging national blockade despite cases of the pin virus, instead proposing a regional approach that would hit the hardest hit areas.

The new measures coming this week will include further business closures and travel restrictions between regions deemed "at risk," Conte said.

Reports had suggested Conte would push for a nationwide 21pm curfew during a speech in parliament, but said such measures would need to be discussed further.

The government has resisted the implementation of the new blockade that many in Italy had expected, with new cases now over 30.000 per day, higher than the UK but still lower than France.

Conte faced heavy pressure from all sides of the debate: health experts insisting a blockade was needed, regional leaders said they would resist
stricter measures and entrepreneurs are demanding better compensation for closing their businesses.

While the new decree has not yet been converted into law, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte outlined the latest restrictions in a speech in the lower house of the Italian parliament on Monday afternoon.

"In light of last Friday's report (by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità) and the particularly critical situation in some regions, we are forced to intervene, from a prudential perspective, to mitigate the rate of contagion with a strategy that must correspond to the different situations of the regions. "

Conte said that "risk-based targeted interventions in various regions" would include a "ban on travel to high-risk regions, national travel limit in the evening, plus distance learning and public transport with a capacity limited to 50 percent" .

It also announced the nationwide closure of shopping malls on weekends, the complete closure of museums, and the remote relocation of all high and potentially middle schools.

The measures have been well below what was expected, and what has been introduced in France, the United Kingdom and Spain, for example.

The latest set of coronavirus rules in Italy will come into effect in the fourth emergency decree announced on October 13.