ANSA: Italy awaits govt decision on new orange and red regions

Premier Giuseppe Conte said «today I trust that the R (transmission) rate will drop from 1.7: it would mean that we are encouraged to go forward on this path».
Three northern regions, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna and Friuli, on Thursday announced new restrictions aimed at averting a change from yellow status to orange.
Campania meanwhile announced red zones in high risk cities while Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said the situation in his home region is out of control.
The Veneto and Emilia-Romagna regions are shutting shops on Sundays in new anti-COVID ordinances aimed at preventing public gatherings and avert being bumped up to orange zones.
Pharmacies, parapharmacies, food stores, tobacconists and news kiosks will be exempt from the new closure.
Bars and restaurants will stay open, although they have to close at 18:00 under a recent government decree.
In Veneto, shopping malls and major outlets will also be closed on Saturdays.
Veneto Governor Luca Zaia issued the ordinance, which also bans walking a round historic centres from Friday until December 3.
Friuli took similar action against gatherings but said that access to shops will be reserved for the elderly in the fist two hours of the day.
Campania may also face further restrictions. «We'll see the data (today) and then decide,» said Regional Affairs Minister Federico Boccia.
Italy is enduring a second wave of COVID and has introduced a three-tier colour scheme for regions: red, orange and yellow.
Last week Premier Giuseppe Conte's government introduced the three-tier system of restrictions to combat an upswing in COVID cases during the second wave of the virus.
This saw Calabria, Lombardy, Piedmont and Val d'Aosta go into a new, but slightly softer, 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, the Higher Health Institute said that four other currently yellow regions, Campania, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Emilia-Romagna, were close to being moved up a tier too.
Under the new government 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.
Meanwhile Regional Affairs Minister Federico Boccia said Italiana should spend Christmas only with their closest family members.
COVID commissioner Domenico Arcuri spoke of the first doses of vaccine in Italy at the end of January, but not immediately available to all.
The army may be used to help distribute the vaccine, he said.
Thursday saw 636 fresh COVID deaths, the highest daily toll since April 6, while the ratio between tests and positive results rose to 16.1%.