The Italian government on Wednesday night passed a new COVID decree scrapping quarantine for those who have had three vaccine doses or have been double-jabbed for less than four months and come into contact with a positive case, sources said after a cabinet meeting.
The decree also extended the Super Green Pass proving full inoculation to almost all areas of life, from public transport to hotels, stadiums and fairs as well restaurant and pub facilities outdoors.
Italy's regions are pressing the government to extend the Super Green Pass, which attests to getting the booster or having the second jab less than four months previously, to all walks of working life. It is currently needed by frontline health workers and other categories dealing with the public.
The decree also mandated a return to 50% capacity in soccer stadiums, and introduce price controls for the stronger, FFP2 facemasks. The special masks, which provide much more protection than ordinary surgical masks, will cost just 50 cents from Friday.
The moves come amid a surge in the more infectious Omicron variant which saw almost 100,000 new cases recorded Wednesday.
The interior ministry has beefed up COVID checks against gatherings on New Year's Eve.
Italy's anti-vaxxers and anti-Green Pass campaigners have branded the decree as worsening what they have dubbed "apartheid" and "Nazi persecution".
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