Italy tightens covid Green Pass rules for schools and parents

Rome: The Italian government has approved a decree expanding the covid Green Pass rules for the country’s schools as the new academic year is set to begin.

Under the new regulations, the Green Pass will be required by all adults who enter schools, including parents, as well as catering and cleaning staff.

Italy’s Green Pass – a digital or paper certificate showing that people have been vaccinated, tested negative or recovered from covid-19 – is already required by teachers and staff of schools and universities, as well as third level students.

The Green Pass measures will remain in force in kindergartens, schools and universities until 31 December, when Italy’s covid state of emergency expires.

Extending the Green Pass requirements to parents will “create an enormous problem for schools,” said Antonello Giannelli, president of the national association of school principals, who said the move will lead to queues forming outside and inside schools, resulting in the risk of crowds forming.

Italy continues to expand the scope of the Green Pass which is required for indoor dining in restaurants, long-distance travel, and a host of cultural and leisure activities.

The move to extend the Green Pass comes amid the government’s plans to begin giving the third dose of the covid vaccine to people considered most at risk, such as cancer patients and transplant recipients, later this month.

More than 80 per cent of the Italian population over the age of 12 has now had at least one dose of the covid-19 vaccine.