Mask-free and 'low risk', Italy welcomes milestone
All of Italy became a mask-free, "low-risk" zone for coronavirus Monday (Jun 28), marking a dramatic milestone for the first European country to be hit by the global pandemic in February 2020.In a decree that took effect Monday, the health ministry for the first time classified each of Italy's 20 regions as "white", signifying low risk, under the country's color-coded classification system that evaluates COVID-19 risk.
That means facemasks will no longer be compulsory in outdoor areas - welcome news across the country where an ongoing heat wave is expected to push temperatures past 40 degrees Celsius in some southern areas this week.
Once a symbol of the corona virus crisis in the West - where images of army trucks transporting coffins from the overflowing morgue in the northern city of Bergamo were seen around the world - Italy has seen COVID-19 infections and deaths plummet in recent weeks.
A third of Italy's population over the age of 12 has been vaccinated as of Sunday, or 17,572,505 people, according to the government.Long prohibited from entering the country, tourists from the European Union, Britain, the United States, Canada and Japan are now back after the government removed a quarantine requirement for vaccinated visitors, or those who test negative.
