Covid-19: Italy restores containment for the holiday season

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced that Italians would be forced to go out only once a day between December 21 and January 6.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte after his press conference on December 18, 2020 in Rome. (REMO CASILLI / REUTERS)

Already stricter than France, Italy is tightening its health restrictions for the holiday season. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced on Friday, December 18, that containment would be restored from December 21 to January 6. 

In theory, only one outing per household per day will be tolerated, and retail businesses will have to close, as well as bars and restaurants, which could still serve until 6pm in some less affected areas.

Restrictions were already expected to be tightened for the holidays.

"Experts fear that the contagion curve will increase during the Christmas period," he justified, in a country where the Covid-19 epidemic has caused more than 68,000 deaths.

Italy had already planned to introduce a number of constraints over this period, to avoid an outbreak of contamination for the holidays. From Monday, it will be forbidden to travel from one region to another without compelling health or professional reasons. And the curfew currently in force, which starts every evening at 10 pm, remains in place, including Christmas Eve.