Night Curfew Imposed Nationwide by Italian Government Amid COVID-19 Spread

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Due to the resurgence of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the Italian government has imposed a nationwide nighttime curfew.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte signed additional quarantine measures in the early hours of the 4th, according to local media such as the daily La Repubblica. According to these measures, a nationwide curfew will be enforced every night from 10 PM to 5 AM starting from the 5th.

The authorities initially considered applying the curfew from 9 PM but postponed it by one hour after coordination with regional governments concerned about the economic impact on their areas.

All high school classes nationwide will be switched to remote learning, and the capacity of public transportation such as buses and subways will be reduced to 50% of their seating capacity. Movement of residents between high-risk virus areas will also be prohibited.

Measures also include the closure of museums and art galleries nationwide, as well as the closure of shopping centers on weekends and holidays. Additionally, the authorities plan to classify the country's 20 regions into three levels?red, yellow, and green?based on the degree of virus risk, and establish and implement separate quarantine measures appropriate to each situation.

Local media reported that the regions with the highest risk level, the red zones, are likely to include Lombardia, Piemonte, Calabria, Alto Adige, and Valle d'Aosta, while the yellow zones may include Puglia, Sicilia, Liguria, and Veneto.

As of this day, Italy recorded 28,244 new COVID-19 cases and 353 deaths in a single day. The cumulative totals are 759,829 cases and 39,412 deaths, respectively.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.