Premier Giuseppe Conte's government
has passed a package of measures aimed at combatting the spread
of COVID-19 following a sharp upswing in cases just a week after
a previous decree brought in new measures.
In a bid to prevent people contracting the disease while out
socializing, city and town mayors will have the power to close
squares and other areas where groups gather at night at 21:00.
Restaurants and pubs will not be able to serve people at the bar
after 18:00 and they will have to close if they are unable to
provide table service after this time.
They had already been forced to close at midnight in the
previous decree.
High schools will not be allowed to open before 9:00 as of
Wednesday in a bid to ease pressure on public-transport services
during the morning rush hour and prevent overcrowding.
Distance learning is to be increased too.
Local festivals and trade fairs have been banned but events of a
national scale have not.
The government has intensified its restrictions on amateur
contact sport, with non-professional clubs barred from playing
games for team sports, although they can still train.
Apart from the high-school opening-time provision, the measures
come into effect on Monday and will remain in force until
November 13.
Bari Mayor Antonio Decaro, the head of local authorities
association ANCI, accused the government of asking too much of
Italy's mayors.
"The government wanted to shift the responsibility of the
curfews onto mayors," Decaro told Radio Capital.
"It's not acceptable that the mayors have to be the ones who
close the squares and streets of night life".
Regional Affairs Minister Francesco Boccia denied trying to
shift responsibility for unpopular measures.
"The provision regarding the mayors has been softened," Boccia
told Rainews24.
"If there is a place that needs to be closed in a city, the
mayor decides.
"The mayors know that the State is at their side 24 hours a
day".
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