A woman wearing a protective face mask walks her dog near the Roman Forum, one day before the country goes back to lockdown as part of the efforts put in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Rome, Italy, January 4, 2021. REUT
ROME: Italy will extend a state of emergency imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus until the end of April as infections currently show no sign of abating, Health Minister Roberto Speranza said on Wednesday.
The state of emergency, first introduced in January 2020, had been set to expire at the end of this month.
"In the past week there has been a generalised worsening of the epidemic, we are back to an expansionary phase," Speranza told the lower house of parliament.
"With indicators worsening... the government sees it appropriate to extend the state of emergency to April 30."
Italy has registered 79,819 COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic first erupted last February, the second-highest toll in Europe and the sixth-highest in the world.
Italy has reported 2.303 million COVID-19 cases to date.
