Italian police have been empowered to check whether diners
in restaurants or bars have a “super” green health pass certifying that they
are either vaccinated or have recently recovered from the virus. Smart phone
applications that verify people’s health pass status have been updated to
prevent entry to concerts, movies or performances to those who have merely
tested negative in recent days. The measures run through Jan. 15.
Authorities also imposed a requirement that at least “basic”
health pass, which can be obtained with a negative test, must be used to get on
local transport and to check into hotels.
In the capital, Rome, dozens of police were out at
transportation hubs checking both green passes and personal identification,
finding a cooperative mood among commuters. Still, a 50-year-old Roman became
the first to receive a 400-euro ($450) fine after getting off the bus at the
northern Flaminio station without the “basic” health pass, said Stefano Napoli,
deputy chief of Rome’s municipal police force.
“It was about time that they checked it,″ said Sara Ben, a
Rome commuter, noting the absence of controls on the often -packed local
transportation throughout the pandemic.
Milanese were enjoying the first long weekend of the season,
including Tuesday’s celebration for the patron saint of Saint Ambrose and
Wednesday’s national holiday, leaving commuter routes more empty than usual.
But few checks were evident around the main Central Station, either for
regional trains or local buses and subways.
Commuter Veronica Bianchi said her health pass wasn’t
checked on a regional train arriving in Milan. “But they didn’t check the
ticket either,″ she said.
She favors the government’s moves to encourage more people
to get vaccinated, and said she noted that people in their 20s like her are
more apt to get the vaccine.
”Frankly, I think we are tired of being locked down. I work
in a young company, and it was a race to get the vaccine,″ Bianchi said.
The number of new COVID-19 infections in Italy has been on a
gradual rise for the past six weeks, even before concerns arose about the new
omicron variant. That’s a worrying trend as Italians look forward to holiday
parties and getaways to spend time with friends and family, after being
deprived of such festivities last year.
While both neighboring Germany and Austria are moving toward
making vaccines obligatory for certain groups, Italy is instead tightening
free-time restrictions on the unvaccinated at the most convivial time of the
year — while allowing those who are vaccinated go about life more or less as
usual.
European nations have found varying formulas to try to
reduce infections during peak times.
With an eye on the holidays, Switzerland on Monday began
allowing — but not requiring — event organizers to bar anyone who hasn’t been
vaccinated or hasn’t recovered from COVID-19. Sweden introduced a vaccination
requirement for indoor events with more than 100 people starting Dec. 1.
On Monday, the Netherlands reversed itself on plans to open
indoor venues to vaccinated people only, sticking instead with a 5 p.m. closure
for restaurants, cinemas and other public sites.
Italy’s vaccination rate is higher than many of its
neighbors, at 85% of the eligible population aged 12 and older and 77% of the
total population. But people in their 30s, 40s and 50s have proved the most
reluctant to get vaccinated, with nearly 3.5 million still not having received
their first dose.
They are also the same age range that is now being hardest
hit by the virus, according to Silvio Brusaferro, head of Italy’s National
Health Institute.
So far the delta variant remains prevalent, with only seven
confirmed cases of omicron In Italy, related to two businessmen returning from
southern Africa.
With the holiday shopping season heating up, many cities
including Rome and Milan have ordered mask mandates even outdoors.
Public health officials say vaccinations, along with prudent
public behavior including wearing masks in crowds indoors or out, are key to
reducing infection levels as winter weather pushes more activities indoors.
They credit Italy’s relatively high level of immunization as one reason that
the infection curve is not as steep as last winter, when broad restrictions
were imposed with the spread of the delta variant.
“It is clear that after two years of the pandemic, we cannot
easily close schools to physical classes and shut down economic activity,″ said
Gianni Rezza, the health ministry’s director of prevention.
”Therefore, you can try to keep the virus spread down with
measures that are sustainable, and with proper use of the health pass. Then,
the big bet is on the vaccinations,” he said. -AP
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