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COVID-19 RULES

At a glance: What Covid-19 rules are now in place in Italy?

Italy has scrapped a large number of its Covid restrictions, but that doesn't mean there aren't some measures still in place. Here's a recap of exactly what the rules are in Italy right now.

Published: 17 January 2022 17:44 CET
Updated: 31 May 2022 13:33 CEST
Italian police officer on patrol in Rome.
Italy has pledged to ease health measures in the coming weeks, but many restrictions currently remain in place. Photo by Vincenzo PINTO / AFP

Italy’s health ministry confirmed at the end of May it would be lifting the requirement for travellers to provide proof of vaccination, recovery, or a negative Covid test from June 1st.

That means that from the start of June, no Covid documentation is required to enter Italy (including the ‘dPLF’, or digital passenger locator form).

READ ALSO: LATEST: Italy scraps all Covid entry rules for travellers

On a national level, however, Italy has kept some health restrictions in place.

The decreto riapertura, or ‘reopening decree’, released in March, allowed for almost all of the country’s Covid restrictions to be dropped on May 1st; but an ordinance released at the end of April amended the decree to keep certain restrictions in place until at least June 15th.

As the rules have changed several times in recent weeks, there has been considerable confusion about what exactly people should expect when visiting.

Here’s an overview of Italy’s most important Covid restrictions rules you need to know about.

Masks

As of May 1st, masks are no longer required for a large number of indoor venues, and aren’t needed outdoors at all.

Bars, restaurants, hotels, shops, museums, galleries, gyms, swimming pools, spas, nightclubs and workplaces all no longer require any kind of mask (under national law – individual businesses may choose to impose their own, stricter rules).

Masks are still required on local and long-distance public transport; in health and social care environments, such as hospitals and residential homes; in schools; and in indoor entertainment venues, such as cinemas, theatres, concert halls, live music venues, and indoor sports arenas and stadiums.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: When do you still have to wear a mask outdoors in Italy?

High-grade Ffp2 masks are required on public transport (including planes, trains, ferries, buses, trams, coaches, school buses, trams and the metro) and in indoor entertainment venues; while lower-grade surgical masks are accepted in health and social care facilities and schools.

While the requirement to wear masks in indoor entertainment settings will be dropped as planned on June 15th, the health ministry is reportedly still deciding whether the deadline should be extended for public transport services.

Children under the age of six are exempt from all mask-wearing requirements.

Police can issue fines of between 400-1,000 euros to those who refuse to comply with the rules on wearing masks.

READ ALSO: Will Italy scrap the last Covid restrictions in June?

Green passes

As of May 1st, the requirement to show proof of vaccination or recent recovery from Covid (known in Italy as the ‘green pass’) to access most facilities and services has been dropped.

No health certificate of any kind is now needed to access almost all venues in Italy; the only exception being hospitals and care homes, which continue to require a ‘super’ or ‘reinforced’ green pass or its equivalent in the form of a foreign-issued vaccine or recovery certificate.

For entry into Italy from abroad, no Covid documentation of any kind is required as of June 1st.

People show their green passes outside a museum in Rome. Photo: Vincenzo Pinto/AFP

Venue capacity

Italy had lowered the maximum capacity of theatres, nightclubs, sports stadiums and other venues throughout the pandemic, but these rules ended on April 1st, meaning capacity has now been restored to 100 percent.

Travel to and within Italy

As of June 1st, Italy no longer requires arrivals to provide proof of vaccination, recovery, or a recent negative test result, following a press release from the ministry of health confirming that the requirement would not be extended beyond its expiry date of May 31st.

The requirement to fill out a dPLF (digital passenger locator form) was lifted on May 1st.

This means that from the start of June, travellers do not require any Covid-related documentation to enter the country.

See all the updated details about the rules on travel to Italy from your country on the government’s ‘Viaggiare Sicuri’ (travel safe) website.

READ ALSO: ‘Fit to fly’: Are Covid lateral flow tests valid for travel to Italy?

Within Italy, there are no restrictions on travel and movement between regions under current rules set by the national government, though local authorities can impose their own measures at any time.

Vaccine mandates

It’s anticipated that the vaccine mandate currently in force for people in Italy aged over 50, as well as teachers and those in the emergency services and armed forces, will expire as planned on June 15th.

Vaccination will remain mandatory for hospital and care home workers up until the end of 2022. Failure to comply will be met with a €100 fine.

Please note that The Local cannot advise on specific cases. For more information about how the rules may apply to you, see the Italian health ministry’s website or consult the Italian embassy in your country.

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HEALTH

Italy’s schools warned to ‘avoid gatherings’ as Covid cases rise

As Italy’s new school year began, masks and hand sanitiser were distributed in schools and staff were asked to prevent gatherings to help stem an increase in Covid infections.

Published: 11 September 2023 12:48 CEST
Italy’s schools warned to ‘avoid gatherings’ as Covid cases rise

Pupils returned to school in many parts of Italy on Monday and authorities said they were distributing masks and hand sanitiser amid a post-summer increase in the number of recorded cases of Covid–19.

“The advice coming from principals, teachers and janitors is to avoid gatherings of students, especially in these first days of school,” Mario Rusconi, head of Italy’s Principals’ Association, told Rai news on Monday.

He added that local authorities in many areas were distributing masks and hand sanitizer to schools who had requested them.

“The use of personal protective equipment is recommended for teachers and students who are vulnerable,” he said, confirming that “use is not mandatory.”

A previous requirement for students to wear masks in the classroom was scrapped at the beginning of the last academic year.

Walter Ricciardi, former president of the Higher Health Institute (ISS), told Italy’s La Stampa newspaper on Monday that the return to school brings the risk of increased Covid infections.

Ricciardi described the health ministry’s current guidelines for schools as “insufficient” and said they were “based on politics rather than scientific criteria.”

READ ALSO:

Recorded cases of Covid have increased in most Italian regions over the past three weeks, along with rates of hospitalisation and admittance to intensive care, as much of the country returns to school and work following the summer holidays.

Altogether, Italy recorded 21,309 new cases in the last week, an increase of 44 percent compared to the 14,863 seen the week before.

While the World Health Organisation said in May that Covid was no longer a “global health emergency,” and doctors say currently circulating strains of the virus in Italy are not a cause for alarm, there are concerns about the impact on elderly and clinically vulnerable people with Italy’s autumn Covid booster campaign yet to begin.

“We have new variants that we are monitoring but none seem more worrying than usual,” stated Fabrizio Maggi, director of the Virology and Biosafety Laboratories Unit of the Lazzaro Spallanzani Institute for Infectious Diseases in Rome

He said “vaccination coverage and hybrid immunity can only translate into a milder disease in young and healthy people,” but added that “vaccinating the elderly and vulnerable continues to be important.”

Updated vaccines protecting against both flu and Covid are expected to arrive in Italy at the beginning of October, and the vaccination campaign will begin at the end of October, Rai reported.

Amid the increase in new cases, Italy’s health ministry last week issued a circular mandating Covid testing on arrival at hospital for patients with symptoms.

Find more information about Italy’s current Covid-19 situation and vaccination campaign on the Italian health ministry’s website (available in English).

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