Italy: Coronavirus state of emergency extended till October 15

Italy has recently announced that it will be extending its coronavirus state of emergency till October 15. The emergency was set to expire on July 31 but was extended through an announcement made by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in the Italian Senate on July 28.

Precautionary measure

According to reports, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said that while the coronavirus transmission curve has flattened significantly and the pressure on Italian health services has reduced, the data suggests to Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte that the coronavirus is still circulating within Italy and therefore the government has decided to extend the emergency.

As per reports, the emergency gives Italian officials some special powers allowing them to act swiftly in an effort to curb the coronavirus as well as implement travel restrictions and other virus preventive measures. Conte further stated that the emergency was just a precautionary measure that would allow government officials to stay alert and take appropriate actions if the virus begins to spread again.

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According to reports, the current rules contained under the state of emergency will not necessarily be extended, Conte and the other Council of Ministers will sit to decide the new rules for the extended period of emergency. Italy was the first European nation to be hit hard by the coronavirus. According to the John Hopkins coronavirus resource centre, Italy had recorded 246,488 coronavirus cases and has a death toll of 35,123. The deadly coronavirus pandemic began in an illegal wet market in Wuhan, China and has quickly spread to many countries across the globe. The deadly virus has infected 16,762,605 people worldwide and the global death toll stands at 661,012.

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