The Italian government has signed off on an extension to the country's state of emergency, keeping it in place until at the end of 2021.
With a return to a steadily rising rate of coronavirus cases after weeks of decline, Italy has prolonged the national state of emergency once more.
The latest extension was included in a new decree announced on Thursday evening, which also contains new risk parameters for Italy’s regions and amendments to the ‘green pass’ scheme.
The state of emergency has already been in place for 18 months. It was first introduced on January 31st 2020, shortly after the first cases of coronavirus were detected in tourists visiting Rome.
Initially, it had a timescale of six months but it has been rolled over several times in accordance with the continuing emergency Covid-19 situation, The Local reported.
