The Italian government will step up its restrictive measures in an effort to stem the Covid-19’s case by introducing the obligation to use the mask again outdoors, the prime minister’s office said.
Among other measures expected to be approved during the cabinet meeting later today are the reduction in the validity of health certificates giving access to premises and services, from nine to six months.
According to the announcement, Italy is also considering closing discos and clubs by New Year’s Eve.
The Omicron variant is expected to dominate
The highly contagious Omicron variant of the coronavirus is spreading rapidly in Italy, the National Institutes of Health (ISS) announced today, publishing preliminary data from a lightning survey showing that on December 20 this variant accounted for 28% of cases.
A previous investigation on December 6 showed that Omicron accounted for just 0.19% of cases.
The comparison between the two studies shows that the doubling time of the variant is about two days.
“Although the results are still preliminary, the estimate confirms the rapid spread of the variant, which is expected to become dominant in the short term,” said ISS President Silvio Brusafero.
The data was given this morning to the government, which is expected to decide during a cabinet meeting later today on new measures to deal with the pandemic.
The analysis is based on about 2,000 smear samples in 18 Italian regions and the final results will be released on December 29, the ISS announced, adding that a new lightning survey will be conducted on January 3.
Italy announced 146 deaths related to the coronavirus yesterday, Wednesday, compared to 153 on Tuesday. The number of daily new infections increased to 36,293 from 30,798.
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