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| - Italy's health ministry on Friday announced tighter anti-coronavirus measures for three regions, but spared its biggest cities, Rome and Milan, from the crackdown. The region of Campania, which includes Naples, along with Emilia Romagna and Molise will move to the medium-risk "orange" category as of Sunday, the ministry said. This will mean the closure of bars and restaurants, which can stay open until 6 pm in lower-risk "yellow" regions. It also means harsher travel restrictions, as people in "orange" areas cannot leave their towns of residence unless for work reasons or emergencies. Italian media had suggested that Lombardy and Lazio, the regions that take in Milan and Rome, respectively, also risked a move from the "yellow" to the "orange" category. But a health ministry spokesman said they would not face any new measures. He also said there were no plans to enforce any "red" zone regional lockdowns. At the moment, only five out of 20 regions, including Tuscany and Umbria in the centre, are "orange" while the rest of Italy is "yellow". A number of localised lockdowns, however, have been enforced in a few provinces affected by outbreaks of more contagious variants of the coronavirus. Rising concerns about the spread of these new virus strains have prompted a national debate about the need for more extensive measures. "The greater transmissibility of the variants calls... for the timely implementation of restrictions where necessary," the GIMBE health think-tank said on Thursday. GIMBE also said Italy needed to step up work on virus sequencing, noting it was lagging behind standards set by the European Commission. Italy was the first European country to face the full force of the Covid-19 pandemic one year ago, and since then it has recorded more than 95,000 virus-related deaths. Newly-installed Prime Minister Mario Draghi pledged this week to use "all means" to fight the pandemic, starting with a faster vaccination programme. Only around 1.32 million people have to date been vaccinated, out of a total population of around 60 million, health ministry figures showed Friday. aa/ams/har
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