Sicily hotspot being emptied - Musumeci

(ANSA) - ROME, 25 AGO - A migrant hotspot in Sicily is being emptied as Governor Nello Musumeci continues to battle the government in Rome over his contention that migrants are raising COVID concerns on the island.
    "This morning they started to empty the hotspot at Pozzallo," the governor said on Facebook.
    Minister for the South Giuseppe Provenzano said he would visit Sicily later Tuesday.
    He urged Musmeci to show "institutional decorum" over the migrant-COVID issue.
    Musumeci claims the regional government has precedence over the national government in migrant policy.
    The government in Rome contends the opposite.
    Musumeci has said he is ready to take legal action to uphold Sicily's claim to competence on the issue.
    The governor has issued an ordinance to clear all the island's hotspots and migrant reception centres by midnight Tuesday.
    Centre-right governor Musumeci is backed by Italy's national centre-right opposition.
    The opposition leader, Matteo Salvini pof the nationalist League party, has said he is backing Musumeci to the hilt and may sue the government for abetting illegal immigration.
    Several COVID cases have been reported at the hotspot on the stepping stone island of Lampedusa south of Sicily.
    The island's mayor has assured Salvini that all the COVID-positive migrants there have been isolated in suitable facilities. (ANSA).