Last weekend, both Rome and Milan experienced their first “yellow” category restriction, which essentially means the COVID risk is considered to be lower than when the two major cities were in the “orange” category.
The status change allows people in these cities to move about more freely in some famous locations such as the Colosseum and the Borghese Gallery.
“We still need the utmost caution if we don’t want to reverse the gains made in past weeks,” Roberto Speranza, the country’s health minister said.
While the Italian government announced the easing of restrictions last Monday, the country still has a 10 PM to 5 AM curfew and a nationwide mask mandate.
As reported in the Trends Journal, Italy’s response to the coronavirus forced former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to resign last week after arguments within his governing alliance about how to approach the EU’s €200 billion economic recovery package, which is the bloc’s largest relief proposal.
Italy, under Conte’s rule, was the first nation outside of China to lock down last year. Italians have seen some of the toughest lockdown rules in the E.U., with citizens barred from traveling outside the region in which they live.
Mario Draghi, the former head of the European Central Bank, has taken the lead role in the country to try and help it “overcome the pandemic,” complete its vaccination campaign, and respond to “the needs of citizens.”
TREND FORECAST: There will be strong populist movements springing up throughout Europe and nations across the globe against established political parties that will be targeted for imposing strict lockdown rules, which have destroyed millions of businesses and hundreds of millions of lives. We see this playing out in Italy.
Matteo Salvini, the leader of the far-right League, and another far-right politician are demanding early elections after Conte’s downfall. The Guardian reported that Salvini said he seeks a “serious plan for cuts in taxes and bureaucracy, plans for schools, works projects to open—and obviously a prospective to vote.”
