In Italy, face masks won’t be mandatory from Monday

ITALY’S Health Minister, Roberto Speranza says Italy will lift a requirement that people wear face masks outdoors from June 28, the government said late on Monday, as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations decline.

  Mandatory masks were imposed in October last year, when the country was entering a second wave of the epidemic and authorities were struggling to curb surging infections.

  Speranza’s announcement came on advice from Italy’s   Comitato Tecnico Scientifico (CTS) scientific advisory panel, which said people should still have masks at hand for events with a higher risk of spreading the virus-like large gatherings.

  By June 28, experts predict all of Italy will be classified a “white” zone, with just 21 deaths and 495 new cases recorded nationwide on Monday.

  The country has recorded 127,291 deaths since the pandemic reached it in early 2020, with 4.25 million infections.

  So far, 30 per cent of people over 12 have been vaccinated, or around 16 million out of a population of 60 million.

More than 46 million vaccine doses have been administered in Italy.