Italy on Wednesday decided to ease restrictions on Covid-19 for guests from abroad.
The decision of the Council of Ministers stipulates that foreigners will be allowed to enter hotels and restaurants in the future, even if they have not been vaccinated against Covid-19 or have recovered from the disease, but will still have to pass a negative test.
The new rules apply to tourists and business travelers who have not been vaccinated with the Covid-19 vaccine approved in the European Union (EU). These are, for example, guests from Russia or China.
The tourism industry has complained that it is possible for foreigners to enter the country unvaccinated with a negative test, but then they are not allowed into hotels and restaurants.
The Council of Ministers also decided that schools should only switch to distance learning if there are more than five positive cases of Covid-19. Recently, this had happened even in the case of two infected children.
This does not apply to vaccinated children, who are always allowed to attend school.
The Italian government also wants to extend the Covid-19 certificate indefinitely for Italian citizens who have also received a maintenance dose or recover from a Covid-19 infection after two doses of the vaccine.
Meanwhile, New Zealand will begin a gradual opening of borders this month in five stages, New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jindind Ardern said on Thursday.
From 27 February, fully vaccinated New Zealanders will be able to return to their country from Australia, but from 13 March the border will be open to all vaccinated New Zealand citizens from all countries, and qualified foreign workers will be admitted to New Zealand.
Entrants will be required to keep themselves isolated for ten days, but will no longer be required to do so in dedicated quarantine hotels.
It is planned that up to 5,000 foreign students will be allowed to enter New Zealand from April 12, but no later than July, Australians and anyone else who would normally be able to enter New Zealand without a visa will be allowed into the country.
All other foreigners and students who would normally need a visa are expected to be admitted to New Zealand from October.
New Zealand’s borders have been closed to foreigners since March 2020. The gradual opening of the country was initially planned for mid-January, but was postponed until the end of February for fear of an outbreak of the omicron.
Due to severe restrictions, only 53 people have died from Covid-19 in New Zealand since the start of the pandemic.
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