ANSA: Experts express alarm as COVID restrictions eased
19:15, 1 February 2021
ROME. KAZINFORM COVID-19 restrictions came down in many parts of Italy on Monday, with most of the country now a yellow zone, meaning the risk of contagion is considered moderate.
This week none of Italy's regions are high-risk red zones and only four, Sicily, Sardinia, Puglia and Umbria, are medium-high-risk orange zones, along with the autonomous province of Bolzano, ANSA reports.
The rest of the country is a yellow zone, meaning all shops can do business and bars and restaurants can serve people until 6pm.
In orange zones, shops can stay open but bars and restaurants are only allowed to offer takeaway services.
When a region is a red zone all bars, restaurants and non-essential shops must close.
A night curfew kicking in at 10pm remains in force throughout the nation.
The relaxation of the restrictions has caused concern among some experts though, especially in the light of footage of big crowds of people in the centres of Milan, Rome and Florence on Sunday. «The return to being a yellow area does not mean a return to normality,» said Agostino Miozzo, the coordinator of the CTS panel of experts advising the government on its policies to combat the coronavirus. «It is necessary to avoid gatherings of people as there is a real risk of the contagion curve rapidly shooting up towards figures that are difficult to manage».