Coronavirus: Italy needs new restrictions to avoid devastating COVID-19 wave, says PM

Italy’s government will need to impose new restrictions during the holiday season to rein in contagion and avoid a third, devastating wave of the coronavirus, the prime minister said in an interview published on Tuesday.

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“Further, new restrictions are now needed ... we must avert at all costs a third wave, because this would be devastating, also from the point of view of the loss of lives,” Giuseppe Conte told La Stampa.

Conte’s coalition government is considering more stringent nationwide rules for the Christmas and New Year holidays after crowds flocked to city centers over the weekend just after Rome had relaxed some restrictions put in place last month.

A musician walks in Piazza Navona square, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Rome, Italy November 23, 2020. (Reuters/Yara Nardi)

Italy is the European nation with the worst death toll, with more than 65,000 people dying since the outbreak in February.

Conte said a vaccination campaign would have to target some 10 million to 15 million people in order to “have an effective impact on immunity,” and that such a goal would be reached by the end of the spring or before the summer at the latest.

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