In Italy, due to the deterioration of the general epidemiological situation on the days of Catholic Easter, from April 3 to 5, a nationwide quarantine is introduced throughout the country, which corresponds to a lockdown. This was announced on Friday, March 12, by the press service of the government.
From March 15, any area where the number of cases of COVID-19 exceeds 250 per 100 thousand inhabitants goes into the “red zone”. By order of Prime Minister Mario Draghi, all educational institutions, including elementary schools and kindergartens, are closed. The Italian authorities have already announced the allocation of additional funds to pay for overtime leave for parents with children under 14 years old.
From Monday, according to the Corriere della Sera newspaper, the new rules will send 11 of Italy’s 20 provinces into the red zone, including the metropolitan area of Lazio, which for the first time falls into the high epidemiological risk category, as well as northern Lombardy, Veneto and Piedmont. The rest belong to the “orange zone”. And only the island of Sardinia manages to maintain the status of the “white zone”, where all restrictions have been practically lifted.
Throughout Italy, the main measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 continue to be in force, namely a curfew from 22.00 to 5 a.m., a ban on crowds, the closure of all retail outlets with the exception of pharmacies and grocery stores, a ban on unnecessary movement, social distancing and the mandatory wearing of medical masks.
The day before, more than 25.5 thousand cases of coronavirus infection were recorded in the country – this is the maximum since November last year. According to the data released on Friday by the Ministry of Health, over the past 24 hours, 26,824 infected people were identified, 380 people died.
On March 8, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Adienne Pharma & Biotech agreed to produce the Sputnik V vaccine in Italy. Vaccine production is due to begin in June 2021. It is planned to produce 10 million doses of the drug by the end of 2021.
On December 27, a vaccination campaign against COVID-19 began in the EU countries.
According to the international statistical bureau Worldometer, as of March 12, 3,175,807 cases of COVID-19 were detected in Italy, 101,564 people died. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 2,564,926 people have fully recovered.