ROME (LifeSiteNews) — Italy’s COVID state of emergency will end this month, but restrictions will linger.
Italy’s “green pass” and “super green pass” requirements will not be lifted at all until May 1, and even then, they will still be required for healthcare workers.
The Italian news agency ANSA reported this scheduled, partial improvement in Italian civil liberties on Thursday.
Italy’s COVID-19 state of emergency, which has lasted for two years, will come to an end on March 31. Such restrictions as the “green pass” will continue for months. Health Minister Roberto Speranza has declared that healthcare workers will continue to be subject to the government’s vaccine mandate until December 31.
On Thursday, Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Health Minister Roberto Speranza confirmed that Italy will be gradually lifting COVID restrictions for some between April and June. Among other changes, unvaccinated employees aged over 50 will no longer be suspended from work without pay. They will still have to present a “green pass” until April 30, but not after May 1. Currently, a “super green pass” is required for those over 50 to be able to enter a workplace. The “super green pass” requirement for work lifts on April 1. The penalty imposed on workers for not having a “super green pass” was unpaid leave.
Speaking about the compulsory jab program for those over 50, Prime Minister Draghi said that unjabbed Italians must be jabbed to “return to being part of society with all of us,” thereby suggesting that he did not view the unvaccinated as “part” of Italian society.
The “green pass” can be obtained through COVID vaccination, a certificate of recovery from COVID, or showing a negative COVID test, even a rapid COVID test. However, the “super green pass” can be obtained only through proof of vaccination or recovery from COVID; a negative test is not sufficient for it
Beginning April 1, the “green pass” will no longer be required for public transportation, and as of May 1, the mask mandate for public transportation and public indoor spaces will be lifted.
Italy has faced many protests in Rome and throughout the country for its “green pass” and other COVID-inspired restrictions. In addition, the “green pass” has inspired heated debate in Italian parliament and has been publicly condemned by senior Italian police as “illegitimate” and “unconstitutional.”