Italy to relax COVID-19 restrictions in six more regions
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Italy has designated six more regions - Emilia Romagna, Piedmont, Puglia, Lombardy, Lazio and the autonomous province of Trento - as white zones.
This means these areas can now drop most COVID-19 restrictions. The only curbs in white zones are social distancing and the wearing of masks indoors and in crowded outdoor places.
Those regions also no longer will have to apply a curfew.
Regions become “white” depending on the COVID incidence and transmission rates. If the trend continues, all of Italy could see the lifting of most restrictions by the end of June.
So far 12 of the country's 20 regions have been classified in this low-risk category.
Italy's coronavirus rate continues to be low compared to other countries with a seven-day incidence rate of 25 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
With a population of 10 million people, Lombardy was the region of Italy hit the hardest by the pandemic.
According to the Italian Ministry of Health's COVID-19 dashboard, it had 114,800 cases and 16,994 deaths as of Oct 13, 2020, which is one-third of all cases and half of all deaths in Italy. The region has now turned the corner.