Italy has announced new restrictions to fight a fresh coronavirus wave that has pushed the national death toll above 75,000, the highest in Europe.
A Cabinet meeting late Monday decided that the country becomes a red zone again, meaning people must not travel within their own towns, between towns, or between regions without a valid reason.
Bars and restaurants are closed, as well as all businesses except food stores, pharmacies, news agents, laundrettes and hairdressers. Curfew remains from 10pm to 5am, and everyone arriving from overseas must quarantine for 14 days on arrival.
Italy reported 348 COVID-19 deaths on Monday. The country is also struggling with speeding up the pace of its vaccination campaign. About 119,000 people have been vaccinated across Italy since December 27, only 25% of the total amount of doses distributed. Health authorities have cited a lack of personnel and disorganisation among the reasons for the delay.
Meanwhile, France has vowed to ramp up its Covid-19 vaccinations after an outcry from health professionals. The country had vaccinated only 352 people by December 31, four days after starting its coronavirus inoculations.
Health Minister Olivier Veran suggested in late December that the government was proceeding slowly deliberately, as a means of reassuring people about the vaccine’s benefits. According to recent polls, scepticism about vaccines is widespread in France. “We are going to amplify, accelerate and simplify our vaccination strategy”, Veran said on Tuesday.
France also recorded about a dozen cases of the more contagious variant of the coronavirus first identified in the UK, making an easing of lockdown restrictions unlikely across the country.