The quarantine requirement for travellers from the European Union or Schengen Zone, which mandates five days in isolation, will remain in place until April 30th, according to the Italian Health Ministry.
Introduced on March 31st, the rule was initially imposed until April 6th but has been extended from April 7-30th by a new ordinance.
It requires people arriving from any other member of the EU or Schengen Zone to test negative for coronavirus no more than 48 hours before arriving in Italy, then spend five days in quarantine regardless. They must then take another test after self-isolating.
Previously EU travellers were only required to test negative before arrival, with quarantine reserved for people arriving from outside the bloc.
EXPLAINED: Which travellers have to quarantine in Italy and for how long?
The change in the rules was introduced shortly before the long Easter weekend, in a move that seemed aimed at discouraging residents of Italy from taking trips overseas while the country went into temporary lockdown over the holiday.
But it has been extended amid high case numbers in Italy and other European countries, several of which are currently in some form of lockdown.
Restrictions are set to remain tight across Italy until at least the end of April, with only essential travel between towns or regions allowed.
Tourism within the EU remains possible under Italy’s international travel restrictions, but is discouraged by the Italian Foreign Ministry which urges people to avoid any overseas trips unless absolutely necessary.
READ ALSO: Italy cuts quarantine time for travellers from the UK and Austria
Under the Health Ministry’s latest ordinance, the five-day quarantine also applies to travellers arriving from the UK and Israel, who previously had to spend 14 days in isolation.
And most travellers from Austria, who had been subject to three coronavirus tests and two weeks in quarantine, will now follow the same rules as the rest of the EU, though people departing from the Austrian state of Tyrol must continue to spend 14 days in isolation.
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Ah…no…when you’ve witnessed scores of people dying over the past year from this disease, or getting seriously sick, with long lasting damage, the protesters you mention in “Rome and other places” sound like more clueless Q followers or the such…
This is about lives, not money. And frankly, if you think this is lockdown, just go to China or Hong Kong where their economy is thriving thanks to these lockdowns.
A little lockdown period, testing non stop, tracing the cases. Result? No cases or deaths from Covid in China. This is not about left or right, it’s about common sense.
No one is suggesting something that rigorous, but frankly, Italy has not done such a bad job considering they were on the forefront of it all. And so many lives were saved…but then you don’t seem to care about that…
Does anyone know if the Lateral Flow Test is the same thing as the Rapid Antigen test accepted by Italy?