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At the start of the summer, travel seemed to become more straightforward throughout Europe. Then, the delta variant started, and countries are increasing restrictions.
Italy is another country to increase restrictions today.
The country will mandate an official vaccine pass to enter restaurants, museums, and theaters. Travelers will also need the official vaccine pass to visit sporting events, casinos, and gyms.
Italian officials hope that the vaccine pass will stop the spread of the delta variant. However, preventing unvaccinated locals and travelers from entering most indoor leisure activities is going to cause controversy.
The vaccine pass is very similar to the EU’s digital COVID-19 certificate. However, travelers will need to show they’ve had at least one vaccine in the last 9 months. Also, they can get the pass if they have evidence of recovery from COVID-19 in the last 6 months.
According to the Italian Premier Mario Draghi, “The certification is needed to “to keep economic activity open″ and will allow people to enjoy entertainment ”with the assurance they won’t be next to contagious people.”
According to Italian authorities, people won’t dine inside cafes, restaurants or attend business conferences or festivals without the vaccine pass. However, according to Italian health officials, over 40 million Italians have already downloaded the application.
Officials will reevaluate the vaccine pass in September, but they might increase restrictions and require the vaccine pass to travel on trains, planes, and public transportation in the country.
Italy opened to U.S travelers last month if they’re fully vaccinated after a year of restrictions and mandatory quarantine for U.S travelers.
The Current COVID-19 Situation In Italy
Italy is starting to see a potential fourth wave in COVID-19 cases because of the delta variant. But cases remain low. There is an average of 3,500 cases per day, which is why Italy has decided to mandate a vaccine pass. Cases were beginning to flatline until last month, prompting an easing of restrictions on international arrivals.
The nation has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, with 16 months of restrictions and an unfortunate 127,937 deaths. There have been a total of 4,307,535 cases since the pandemic began. However, the country has fully vaccinated around 48.2 percent of its population, yet cases have grown by 500 percent in Rome since July 11th. Experts speculate that Italy’s Euro 2020 victory against England started the spike in cases.
What can travelers expect inside the country?
The Italian authorities have graded the country by the infection levels from white to yellow, amber, and red. White is the lowest infection rate, with red being the highest infection rate. Therefore, the current restrictions will depend on the color of the zone.
Nonetheless, the government still mandates masks everywhere in the country when travelers are inside or on public transport. The government still implements social distancing in many areas in the white zones, including restaurants and public transport.
In addition, travelers in yellow zones will find restaurants open during the day but closed by 11 pm. Shops are still open in yellow areas, but there’s a restriction on only four people meeting inside.
At the moment, there are various zones at risk of turning from white to yellow. These include Veneto, Lazio, Sardinia, Sicily, and Campania.
Final Thoughts
Many Americans are going to be put off by the changing restrictions inside Europe Although the continent has opened to U.S travelers, things are changing by the day. As a result, traveling to Europe is becoming frustrating.
Many European countries are increasing restrictions because of the delta variant. In contrast, the U.K has removed all restrictions inside the country and bet on its high vaccination rate and herd immunity.
It really depends on where you’re visiting, but travel is still a long way from being back to normal. Next summer should be a lot different.
Read More:
Italy Drops All Restrictions For Vaccinated U.S. And Canadian Travelers
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This article originally appeared on TravelOffPath.com
James
Sunday 25th of July 2021
What makes you think it will be a lot better next year? There will be new variants every year. As long as most countries are acting like new Zealand and Australia hoping for zero covid before releasing restrictions then travel as we know it is forever gone. With a vaccine it will reduce deaths but it will not stop transmission. The virus is here to stay and should be treated like the flu
M
Saturday 24th of July 2021
If you guys are still in Italy, any further information on this? How do you get the vaccine passport as non EU members?
Kashlee Kucheran
Tuesday 27th of July 2021
We just left, but we are expecting the pass to soon be available to third-party, but just not yet
Kior
Saturday 24th of July 2021
They will keep inventing new variants. Winter is coming...