Italy has banned entry to people arriving from 13 countries that it said presented an excessive rate of COVID-19 infections.
The list of 13 nations compiled by Italy’s health ministry comprises Armenia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chile, Kuwait, North Macedonia, Moldova, Oman, Panama, Peru and Dominican Republic.
The travel ban affects anyone who has stayed in or travelled through these countries during the previous 14 days, health minister Roberto Speranza said in a statement on 9 July.
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Italy has suspended all direct and indirect flights to and from the 13 ‘high-risk’ countries, reports Italian news agency ANSA.
Citing “maximum prudence”, Speranza said that Italy could not “nullify” the sacrifices made by Italians over the last few months.
The move comes two days after Italy ordered the temporary suspension of flights from Bangladesh following a spike of coronavirus cases traced back to people arriving in Rome from Dhaka.
“We cannot allow [covid-19] positive and unmonitored people to come in from foreign countries,” said Italy’s premier Giuseppe Conte, citing as an example Bangladesh where there are “no checks” on outgoing passengers, reports ANSA.
