ROME - Italy on Wednesday closed its ports to NGO run migrant rescue ships because the coronavirus crisis means they can no longer be classified as places of safety.

Due to the COVID-19 emergency, Italian ports ''do not meet the necessary requirements for the classification and definition of 'place of safety' as provided for by the Hamburg Convention on sea rescues'' by foreign-flagged ships outside of the Italian search and rescue zone.

The decree was signed by four Italian ministers (transport, foreign affairs, interior and health) and aims to prevent the docking of foreign rescue ships carrying migrants.

The decree is valid for ''the entire emergency period''.

Lampedusa protests over new migrant arrivals

About 60 Lampedusa residents including fishermen on Wednesday morning took to the streets and protested in front of the town council on the island of Lampedusa against Mayor Salvatore Martello due to the arrival of more migrants.

''We are in quarantine and they are out taking walks. No one should come to this island, no one,'' yelled some of the protestors. The protest was held after three of the 46 migrant disembarked on Monday and ordered to remain in quarantine instead managed to leave the hotspot and were found in the center of the city. Lampedusa residents are afraid of catching COVID-19 and are angered that they are expected to comply with the decree while migrants have been found not doing so. Martello has said that the island inhabitants were right to be angered and is seeking to understand what happened at the hotspot.

On Wednesday morning, a boat landed with about 67 people onboard that had asked for help via Alarm Phone. ''Malta did not rescue them and they crossed the search and rescue area with a motor that had stopped working. Having reached the Italian search and rescue area, the authorities escorted them to the port. We are glad that they are alive,'' the emergency telephone service said. Another 50 migrants were later disembarked on the island. At the Favarolo pier, where the new arrivals were taken, there were almost 120 people on Wednesday morning.