Premier Giuseppe Conte has said his
government is doing everything it can to combat the spread of
COVID-19 while averting another "total lockdown" like the one
Italy endured during the first wave of the coronavirus.
"I'm working to avoid a total lockdown," Conte said in an
interview published by daily newspaper La Stampa on Wednesday.
"The (contagion) curve is climbing but I expect it to start to
bend over the next few days, in part due to the effect of the
new measures."
Last week Conte's government introduced a three-tier system of
restrictions to combat the upswing in COVID cases.
This saw Calabria, Lombardy, Piedmont and Val d'Aosta go into a
soft lockdown after being classed as high-contagion-risk red
zones.
The autonomous province of Bolzano joined them this week, when
five regions, Abruzzo, Umbria, Basilicata, Liguria and Tuscany,
were bumped up from yellow to orange zones, joining Puglia and
Sicily.
These areas have slightly less stringent restrictions as they
have been classed as medium-high risk while the rest of the
country is moderate risk - yellow.
However, four other regions, Campania, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia
Giulia and Emilia-Romagna, are close to being moved up a tier
too.
Under the restrictions, which apply until, December 3,
non-essential shops and markets are closed in red zones and
travel outside one's home town is banned, except for work or
health reasons.
Conte told La Stampa that the government "has a strategy" and
called on the public to cooperate by respecting the
contagion-prevention rules.
He said the government was ready to continue in 2021 giving aid
to the business forced to closed by the restrictions.
He also said he expects people will be able to celebrate
Christmas with their families, but stressed that this must be
done "with prudence".
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