World

Italy extends coronavirus lockdown until March

People sing, wave and clap their hands next to an Italian flag, during a flash mob "Una canzone per l'Italia" (A song for Italy) at the Magliana district in Rome on March 15, 2020. - Italy reacts with the solidarity of flash mobs circulating on social media to make people "gather" on balconies at certain hours, to play music or to get a round of applause. Italy on Sunday recorded 368 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, its highest one-day increase to date, taking the total to 1,809, the most outside China, official data showed. The number of infections has reached 24,747, a count released to the media by Italy's civil protection service said. The northern Lombardy region around Milan remained the European epicentre of the pandemic, officially reporting 1,218 deaths, or 67 percent of the Italian total. (Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP)

The Italian government on Friday formally lengthened the coronavirus lockdown until March 5.

Issued today by the country’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, the decree reiterates all measures currently in effect, including the night curfew and travel restrictions between regions. However, Italy added the white zone to the existing three-tier system, which will be reserved for areas where coronavirus is under control. The regions will need to have fewer than 50 cases per 100,000 inhabitants for three weeks to qualify and be exempt from many COVID-19 restrictions.

Currently, no part of Italy qualifies, with three regions being designated as red zones, twelve as orange, and six as yellow. Nine regions were moved from yellow to orange in the newest update.