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Italy Says Face Masks Won’t Be Mandatory From June 28

Face masks will no longer be compulsory in Italy, one of the countries in Europe worst hit by the coronavirus, from June 28, the health ministry said Monday.


An employee of the company “Jimy”, which manufactures Charro and regional suits, shows a face mask with a Mexican print in Guadalajara, Mexico, on May 6, 2020, amid the new coronavirus pandemic. ULISES RUIZ / AFP.
File photo: Homemade protective face masks are prepared by Sarah, a 45-year-old volunteer, who sews face masks to be distributed to people in need, at her home in Vincennes, eastern suburbs of Paris, on May 7, 2020, on the 52nd day of a strict lockdown in France to stop the spread of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus). – (Photo by GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT / AFP)

 

Face masks will no longer be compulsory in Italy, one of the countries in Europe worst hit by the coronavirus, from June 28, the health ministry said Monday.

The lifting of the mask requirement would come into effect in regions labelled “white” under Italy’s classification system for how rapidly the virus is spreading, Health Minister Roberto Speranza wrote on Facebook.

This includes all Italian regions except the tiny Aosta Valley in the far northwest.

Speranza’s announcement came on advice from Italy’s   Comitato Tecnico Scientifico (CTS) scientific advisory panel, which said people should still have masks at hand for events with a higher risk of spreading the virus-like large gatherings.

READ ALSO: Uganda Tightens Restrictions As COVID-19 Cases Surge

File photo of pupils waiting behind floors markers prior to enter the Luigi Einaudi technical high school in Rome on September 14, 2020, for the start of the school year, during the COVID-19 infection, caused by the novel coronavirus.  (Photo by Vincenzo PINTO / AFP)

 

By June 28, experts predict all of Italy will be classified a “white” zone, with just 21 deaths and 495 new cases recorded nationwide on Monday.

The country has recorded 127,291 deaths since the pandemic reached it in early 2020, with 4.25 million infections.

So far 30 percent of people over 12 have been vaccinated, or around 16 million out of a population of 60 million.

More than 46 million vaccine doses have been administered in Italy.

AFP