Italy to require covid Green Pass for restaurants, cinemas and gyms

Rome: The Italian government is to broaden the scope of its ‘Green Pass’ from 6 August, as part of a new decree outlined by premier Mario Draghi last night.

The expanded Green Pass will be required in order to be served at indoor tables in restaurants and bars as well as being mandatory for access to museums, cinemas, gyms, swimming pools and sports stadiums.

The pass will not be necessary for consuming food or drink at tables outdoors or standing at the bar.

Contrary to earlier speculation in the media, the Green Pass will not be required – for now at least – on public transport including regional and long-distance trains or on domestic flights.

Night clubs will also remain closed for the forseeable future and there has been no decision yet on whether or not to require the pass in the workplace.

The Green Pass, in use in Italy since June, shows that people have been vaccinated, tested negative or recovered from covid-19, with the certificate available in both digital and paper format.

Until now the ‘certificazione verde’ has only been required for international travel in Europe as well as facilitating access to nursing homes and large events, such as concerts, football matches or weddings.

The decision to widen the scope of the Green Pass, which does not apply to children under 12, comes amid a resurgence in covid-19 infections in Italy, fuelled by the Delta variant.

“The Green Pass is essential if we want to keep businesses open,” said Draghi, adding that Italy’s economy is recovering and growing but the Delta variant poses a threat.

“Without vaccination, everything must be closed again,” the premier insisted: “An appeal not to be vaccinated is an appeal to die.”

The owners and staff of businesses where the Green Pass applies will be tasked with checking to see people are in possession of the certificazione verde.

In the event of a violation, both the owner and the customer could face fines of between €400 and €1000. If the violation is repeated three times on three separate days, the business could be shut for 1 to 10 days.

As part of the new decree, the parameters governing Italy’s colour-coded system of coronavirus restrictions will also be changed, switching the focus from the number of covid cases to the number of patients hospitalised.

The move was announced by health minister Roberto Speranza who said that keeping schools open was an “absolute priority” for the government, urging the 15 per cent of unvaccinated teachers to get the vaccine.

In addition the government will extend the nation’s covid-19 state of emergency legislation, after it expires next week, keeping it in place until the end of this year.