Most of Italy is expected to be a COVID-19 red zone next week, due to a sharp rise in contagion and new rules the government is expected to apply on how to classify regions in the nation's tiered system of coronavirus-linked restrictions.
The government is set to make it automatic for a region with an incidence of 250 COVID-19 cases or more in a week per 100,000 inhabitants to become a red zone.
This could see all of Italy's regions except for Sardinia, Sicily, Calabria and Umbria be red next week.
Lazio, the region around Rome, and Valle d'Aosta are reportedly in doubt between being red or orange next week.
Lazio Health Chief Alessio D'Amato said the region's COVID Rt reproduction rate was 1.3, over the 1.25 threshold, but added that other factors, such the incidence of cases and the proportion of intensive-care places taken up by coronavirus patients, were not at alarm levels.
Sources said that Health Minister Roberto Speranza told a meeting with governors on Friday that any of Italy's regions that qualify as moderate-risk yellow zones will be bumped up to orange zones, which have more stringent restrictions, during the period of a new decree, March 15 to April 6.
In red zones all restaurants and bars are closed, except for takeaways and home deliveries, and all non-essential shops are closed too.
Pupils must have lessons via distance learning.
In orange zones, shops can do business but restaurants and bars must stay closed, except for takeaways and home deliveries..
In yellow zones, shops are open and so are bars and restaurants until 6pm.
In low-risk white zones many of these restrictions can be dropped and, for example, restaurants can serve food in the evening.
Sardinia is Italy's only white zone at the moment.
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