The Italian Minister of Health, Roberto Speranza, signed a new ordinance on Friday night making the regions of Friuli Venezia Giulia and Veneto orange zones.
The Campania region, which includes Naples, will be classified as a red zone, joining the regions of Basilicate and Molise at the highest risk level
The changes will take effect on Monday, March 8.
Meanwhile, the Lombardy region declared itself a ‘reinforced orange’ zone on Friday.
Also read: What is the difference between the rules in the orange, dark orange and red zones of Italy?
In the red and orange areas, restaurants and bars are closed, except for take-away and delivery.
In the orange zones, stores are open, although shopping centers are closed on holidays.
In the red zones, schools and hairdressers will also close according to the new rules announced in Italy’s latest emergency decree this week.
Sardinia remains the only low-risk “white” region.
Regional rankings are reviewed weekly based on the latest data from the Ministry of Health.
The new crackdown came after this week’s report from the ISS health institute said the R-number – which measures the rate of spread of the virus – rose above one, to 1.06, for the first time in seven weeks.
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The so-called British variant of the coronavirus has become “overwhelmingly dominant” in Italy, said ISS President Silvio Brusaferro.
But the other variants, the so-called Brazilian, South African and others are also worrisome, he added.
Infection rates have risen sharply in Italy recently, with many outbreaks attributed to the spread of new, more contagious variants of the virus
On Thursday, the health study group GIMBE warned that Italy had entered the third wave of the coronavirus, as it reported a sharp increase in the number of infections.
In the period from February 24 to March 2, coronavirus cases increased by a third from the previous week, to more than 123,000, the highest number since the beginning of December, said the GIMBE.