Covid, mandatory outdoor mask only if close to other people. Fines from 400 to one thousand euros

ROMA – Obligatory mask outdoors yes, but in the Marche style: to counteract the Covid, the government chooses the “soft” version already launched by the new governor of the Marche, Francesco Acquaroli, which provides for mandatory use even outdoors only when you are close to other people who do not live together, and not the “hard” version in vigor in Lazio, where the mask outside the home must always be worn, regardless of the crowd or loneliness. The measure – waiting for the new Dpcm which is postponed by a week – it will be immediate and contained in the decree by which the government extends the state of emergency until January.

The text contains in draft “the obligation to always have with you, outside your home, personal protective equipment, with the possibility of providing for the compulsory use even outdoors when you are near other people who are not cohabiting, and in any case without prejudice to the anti-contagion protocols envisaged for specific economic and productive activities, as well as the guidelines for the consumption of food and drinks “.

It means precisely that it will be necessary to leave the house with the mask and wear it in case of gatherings: only “subjects who are doing sports or physical activity; children under the age of six; subjects with pathologies are always exempt from the obligation to wear it. or disabilities incompatible with the use of the mask, as well as those who, in order to interact with the aforementioned, are in the same incompatibility “. You can leave it in your pocket when jogging or brisk walking, not if you are walking your dog in a crowded park. And, of course, it remains permissible to remove it both outdoors and indoors in bars at the time of consumption and in restaurants when you sit at the table. Those who do not adapt, for personal choice or carelessness, risk big: not wearing the mask outdoors when it is foreseen triggers heavy fines: from 400 euros to 1,000 euros.

But what happens to the Regions that, like Lazio, have already passed more restrictive rules providing for the obligation to wear a mask outdoors with no ifs and buts? Nothing, they will remain perfectly in force. One of the decisive points in the new decree is precisely the door open to the Regions which are allowed to dispose of restrictive measures, while it is strictly forbidden to loosen the links with respect to the rules imposed at the state level. If a Region deems a less severe measure to be reasonable, it should first ask and obtain a positive opinion from the Technical Scientific Committee.

Pending the new Dpcm, the hypothesis of a curfew or reduced hours for public establishments is currently excluded, another rule already provided locally in the areas where the virus is hitting the hardest. Also in this case the restrictive local decisions are legitimate, but there would be no generalized indications to reduce the operating hours. Indeed, the new provision could extend “the anti-contagion protocols envisaged for specific economic and productive activities, as well as the guidelines for the consumption of food and drinks”.

The other novelty is the extension of the countries arriving from which the mandatory swab is essential (molecular or antigenic test with the swab): to the list, extended, which already includes Croatia, Greece, Malta, Spain and seven regions of France Holland, Belgium and England are added. Another point is the extension of the state of emergency to January 31, 2021, the subject of the decree to which the Dpcm itself is hinged.

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