Italy set to ease lockdown restrictions in most parts of the country

Health Minister Roberto Speranza will likely sign a decree on Friday evening to shift many regions classified as high-risk “red” areas to medium-risk “orange” status, said the officials, who asked not to be named discussing a confidential issue.

Italy is set to ease lockdown restrictions, lifting some curbs that have been weighing on the economy in the region surrounding Milan and across the country as the latest virus resurgence slows, officials said.

An empty concourse at a train station in Milan, Italy, on Tuesday, March 2, 2021. Italy's new government may soon seek parliamentary approval for more stimulus spending as a sluggish vaccination campaign and new coronavirus strains extend the nation�s reliance on fiscal support. Photographer: Gianmarco Maraviglia/Bloomberg (Bloomberg)

Health Minister Roberto Speranza will likely sign a decree on Friday evening to shift many regions classified as high-risk “red” areas to medium-risk “orange” status, said the officials, who asked not to be named discussing a confidential issue.

The development would mean that from early next week more retail businesses could open and people would be given more freedom to move around within their municipalities. Bars and restaurants would remain open only for takeout orders while travel to other regions would still be mostly banned.

Prime Minister Mario Draghi is banking on accelerating a vaccination campaign to allow for an easing of lockdown rules. The premier on Thursday confirmed the government’s latest target of half a million daily Covid-19 vaccinations by the end of the month, even with new restrictions on the AstraZeneca Plc vaccine.

Lombardy Region

Regions set to benefit from the easing of restrictions include Lombardy, which surrounds the country’s financial capital Milan; Piedmont, around the northern city of Turin; and the central region of Tuscany, the officials said.

As many as four regions are likely to be kept on high-risk status: Campania and Puglia in the depressed south, Val d’Aosta in the north, and the island of Sardinia.

Italy posted 17,221 new daily coronavirus cases on Thursday, as government experts say the pace of contagion is slowing. The country has recorded more than 3.7 million cases since the start of the pandemic.

Draghi also said Thursday that his administration’s next decree for further stimulus measures, involving a request to widen the budget deficit, will probably be greater than the previous amount. The prime minister has already secured approval for a 32 billion-euro ($38 billion) package originally requested by his predecessor Giuseppe Conte.