Tuscany has now become a ‘zona arancione’ (orange zone) with stricter anti-Covid constraints, effective November 11 through December 3. Restaurants and bars will shut except to prepare take out and delivery orders. Retail shops, supermarkets, grocery stores, newsstands and pharmacies may remain open in addition to hairdressers and nail salons. Students can go to school in person in elementary and middle school. People cannot travel outside their town or city of residence except for work or health reasons or leave the region where they are living.
Self-certification is not needed to leave the home to move around one’s town of residence, but is necessary to travel within the region for reasons of work, health or emergency.
Museums, exhibitions and betting halls continue to remain closed in addition to shopping malls and centers on the weekend. The edict also mandates online classes for all high school students and public transportation (buses, trams and trains) will be limited to to 50% capacity. A curfew is now in place from 10 pm to 5 am except for those who need to be out and about for “necessity, work or health reasons.”
Other regions, upgraded to orange zone status, comprise Liguria, Abruzzo, Basilicata and Umbria. A decision by the government regarding Campania will be announced on November 10.
November 11 saw 2,224 new cases of Coronavirus in Tuscany, with 33 deaths from the disease. (rosanna cirigliano)
To read more in Italian, visit Florence’s La Repubblica news site.