Italy COVID-19 case count now 79, Government introduces urgent measures

By NewsDesk @infectiousdiseasenews

With the number of COVID-19 cases soaring in Italy in recent days, the government is instituting measures to contain the spread.

On Sunday, The Council of Ministers, on the proposal of President Giuseppe Conte, approved a decree-law that introduces urgent measures regarding the containment and management of the epidemiological emergency from COVID-2019.

The measure was illustrated in a press conference by the Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, with the Head of Civil Protection Angelo Borrelli, the Minister of Health Roberto Speranza, the President of the Higher Institute of Health Silvio Brusaferro.

The decree intervenes organically, in the current international health emergency situation declared by the World Health Organization, in order to prevent and contrast the further transmission of the virus.

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The text provides, among other things, that in municipalities or areas where at least one person is positive for whom the source of transmission is unknown or in any case in which there is a case not attributable to a person from an area already affected by the contagion, the competent authorities are required to take all appropriate containment measures proportionate to the evolution of the epidemiological situation.

Measures includes:

the ban on removal and access to the municipality or area concerned;

suspension of demonstrations, events and all forms of meetings in public or private places;

suspension of childhood and school education services and educational trips;

suspension of the opening of museums to the public;

suspension of insolvency proceedings and public office activities, without prejudice to the provision of essential and public utility services;

the application of the quarantine with active surveillance to those who have had close contacts with people affected by the virus and the provision of the obligation for those who entered Italy from epidemiological risk areas to communicate it to the Prevention Department of the competent health company, for the ‘adoption of the fiduciary home stay measure with active surveillance;

suspension of work for certain types of businesses and closure of certain types of commercial activities;

the possibility that access to essential public services and businesses for the purchase of basic necessities is conditional on the use of personal protective equipment;

the restriction on access or suspension of freight and passenger transport services, except for specific exceptions.

It also introduces the option for the competent authorities to adopt additional containment measures, in order to prevent the spread of the virus even outside the cases already listed.

To date, Italy has reported 79 COVID-19 cases, including two deaths. Two-thirds of the cases have been reported in Lombardy, while more than a dozen cases have been reported in Veneto.



