COPY LINK

TOURISM

Italy imposes mandatory Covid-19 testing on all arrivals from four countries

Italy has imposed mandatory coronavirus testing for all travellers arriving from Croatia, Greece, Malta and Spain, and banned all visitors from Colombia, in a bid to rein in new infections.

Published: 13 August 2020 12:25 CEST

Italy imposes mandatory Covid-19 testing on all arrivals from four countries

Photo: AFP

“We must continue to be cautious in order to protect the results obtained thanks to sacrifices made by all in recent months,” Health Minister Roberto Speranza said on Wednesday after issuing the new rules, which will last until September 7th.

The move comes after several regions, including Puglia, imposed their own rules and restrictions on arrivals from certain countries.

Health minister Roberto Speranza announced the new rules on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

Health authorities worry in particular that Italians returning from vacations abroad may be bringing home the virus and passing it on when people are crowding outdoors, on beaches, at festivals or parties during the summer.

Travellers arriving at an airport, port or border crossing can choose from a number of options, including rapid tests on the spot, or the presentation of a certificate obtained within the last 72 hours which shows they are Covid-19 free.

They can also choose to carry out a test within two days of entering Italy, but will have to stay in isolation until the results arrive.

Anyone found to be positive, including asymptomatic cases, must report to the local health authorities.

More than 251,000 people have been infected by coronavirus and more than 35,000 have died in Italy, once of the worst affected countries in Europe.

There are currently 13,000 active cases recorded.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.

Become a Member to leave a comment.

Former Italian PM faces investigation over Covid response

Prosecutors in Bergamo, the northern city that was one of the epicentres of the coronavirus outbreak in Europe, targeted Conte after wrapping up their three-year inquiry, according to media reports.

Conte, now president of the populist Five Star movement, was prime minister from 2018 to 2021 and oversaw the initial measures taken to halt the spread of what would become a global pandemic.

Investigating magistrates suspect that Conte and his government underestimated the contagiousness of Covid-19 even though available data showed that cases were spreading rapidly in Bergamo and the surrounding region.

They note that in early March 2020 the government did not create a “red zone” in two areas hit hardest by the outbreak, Nembro and Alzano Lombardo, even though security forces were ready to isolate the zone from the rest of the country.

READ ALSO: ‘Not offensive’: Italian minister defends Covid testing rule for China arrivals

Red zones had already been decreed in late February for around a dozen other nearby municipalities including Codogno, the town where the initial Covid case was reportedly found.

Conte’s health minister Roberto Speranza as well as the president of the Lombardy region, Attilio Fontana, are also under investigation, the reports said.

Bergamo prosecutors allege that according to scientific experts, earlier quarantines could have saved thousands of lives.

Conte, quoted by Il Corriere della Sera and other media outlets, said he was “unworried” by the inquiry, saying his government had acted “with the utmost commitment and responsibility during one of the most difficult moments of our republic.”

READ ALSO: Italy’s constitutional court upholds Covid vaccine mandate as fines kick in

Similar cases have been lodged against officials elsewhere, alleging that authorities failed to act quickly enough against a virus that has killed an estimated 6.8 million people worldwide since early 2020.

In January, France’s top court threw out a case against former health minister Agnes Buzyn, a trained doctor, over her allegedly “endangering the lives of others” by initially playing down the severity of Covid-19.

Url copied to clipboard!