Italy To Extend Virus Curbs Until April 6: Minister

Faizan Hashmi Published February 24, 2021 | 08:41 PM

Italy should brace for another month of restrictions due to the threat posed by new strains of the coronavirus, its Health Minister Roberto Speranza said Wednesday

Rome, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Feb, 2021 ) :Italy should brace for another month of restrictions due to the threat posed by new strains of the coronavirus, its Health Minister Roberto Speranza said Wednesday.

The government is expected to adopt a new decree in the coming days, extending a three-tier system of regional restrictions currently set to expire on March 5.

"We are in no epidemiological condition today to relax the measures against the pandemic," Speranza said, indicating that curbs would be extended until April 6.

"Telling the country the truth is an obligation we must all strongly feel, even when this truth is uncomfortable," the minister said.

He noted that 25 Italian towns or provinces had recently gone into lockdown due to outbreaks of British, South African or Brazilian strains of the coronavirus.

The faster rate of transmission of the new variants "makes it even more essential for the country to raise its guard," Speranza said.

"It is still possible to contain their spread, as long as very rigorous measures are adopted and quickly enforced," he added, referring to localised lockdowns.