Daily US Times: Restaurants, shops, and schools will be closed across most of Italy on Monday, with Prime Minister Mario Draghi warning of a “new wave” of the coronavirus outbreak.
For three days over Easter, 3-5 April, there will be a total shutdown in an attempt to contain the spread of the virus.
Italy, which one year ago imposed one of the first national coronavirus lockdowns, is once again struggling to contain the rapid spread of infections.
Italy has reported more than 100,000 Covid-related deaths, Europe’s second-highest tally after the United Kingdom.
Italy’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign has been hit by delays, as has been seen elsewhere in the European Union.
AstraZeneca has announced a further shortfall in the amount of its jab it can supply to the European Union, blaming export restrictions imposed by some countries. the company did not elaborate.
In January, it announced a large cut in the 100m doses it had originally expected to deliver to the Europear Union by March, sparking a public spat with European Commission.
The government in Rome last week blocked the export of 250,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Australia to address shortfalls of vaccines.
Elsewhere, Norway, Bulgaria and Denmark have all paused the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine over fears it causes blood clots.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday there was no indication this was true, stressing that countries should not stop using the vaccine.
From Monday, schools, restaurants and shops will shut in more than half of Italy, including the two most populous regions containing Rome and Milan.
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