Italy may reopen nightclubs with Green Pass and limited capacity

Rome: Italy’s discos, nightclubs and dance halls could soon reopen, in a gradual and limited way, under the latest recommendations from the technical scientific committee (CTS) that advises the government on coronavirus protocols.

The CTS recommends that nightclubs – which have been closed for more than a year and a half – can reopen with a maximum capacity of 35 per cent indoors and 50 per cent outdoors.

The recommendations would apply exclusively to holders of the Green Pass, the digital or paper certificate that shows people have been vaccinated, tested negative or recovered from covid-19.

Masks would be mandatory too and could only be removed while dancing, the CTS said, according to news agency ANSA.

Despite giving the green light to reopen, the CTS cautioned that nightclubs and discos are among the places that “present the highest risks for the spread of the virus.”

The recommended reopening was welcomed by Maurizio Pasca, the president of the Italian trade union for dance clubs (SILB), but he stressed that the “conditions are not favourable, because they will affect costs”, adding that he hoped the government could “review” the recommended maximum capacity in the coming days.

Beppe Sala, the newly re-elected centre-left mayor of Milan, said last week that the time had come to “reopen the discos and clubs with all the relevant rules and the Green Pass”.

The CTS recently recommended increasing the audience capacity for cultural events to 100 per cent outdoors and 80 per cent indoors, while stadiums and sports facilities could increase capacity to 75 per cent outdoors and 50 per cent indoors.

The recommendations, including those relating to nightclubs and discos, would apply to ‘white zones’ – the areas with the fewest covid restrictions (currently most of Italy).

ANSA reports that Italian premier Mario Draghi could convene talks on Thursday to discuss the implementation of the latest CTS recommendations.