Updated: June 2022

Entry Into Italy

From the 1st June 2022, the green pass is no longer required to enter Italy from the EU Member States and other foreign countries.

Masks

FFP2 Masks must still be worn on

• All public transport including trains, planes, buses, taxis, and cruise ships (if under Italian jurisdiction)
• Hospitals
• Doctors’ clinics
• Other medical facilities
• Care homes

To check the fine print and see if anything has been updated check the Italian health site 

Rollout

ORANGE ZONE

• People can move within their commune without the need for self-certification.
• You are always requested to wear a mask outside your own house.
• Travel is not permitted outside your commune unless you have a valid reason for work or health.
• Bars and restaurants will be closed. Food outlets providing home deliveries can stay  open till 10 pm
• Shops, food stores and markets will remain open.
• Museums and exhibitions will close. Libraries may remain open, but you must book services in advance.
• Infant, primary and middle schools will remain open. Secondary schools may remain open with a maximum student attendance of 50%.
• Up to two adults may spend time in another person’s home, on the condition that they live in the same comune, only do so once a day, and observe the 10pm-5am curfew.

Updated 31st  January 2021

Abruzzo has re-entered Italy’s yellow Covid zone.

Key Facts!

• Bars and restaurants will be open to customers between 5 am – 6pm, however in the evening it is take-out only and no group dining in parks of your take-aways!
• You can travel within the region and visit friends and family a maximum of two people, however, you cannot travel to other regions you have a valid reason, for work, health or a personal emergency and a self-certificate is necessary for each over the border trip ready to be inspected by the police.
• Museums and art galleries are open from Monday to Friday only!

Chieti – Villa Frigerj – National Archaeological Museum of Abruzzo – Open Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 8.30 / 14.30

Campli (Te) – National Archaeological Museum – Open Thursday and Friday 8.30 / 19.30

Celano (Aq) – Museum of Sacred Art of Marsica and Torlonia Collection – Piccolomini Castle – Open from Tuesday to Friday 9.00 / 19.00

Pescara – Gabriele d’Annunzio Birthplace Museum – Open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 9.00 / 14.00; Wednesday and Friday 2.00pm / 8.00pm

Sulmona (Aq) Abbey of Santo Spirito al Morrone – Open Tuesday and Wednesday 8.30 / 14.30

• The nationwide curfew remains in place, each night from 22.00 until 05.00.

15th November 2020/ 2nd Wave

Movement Prohibited

From Thursday 12th March until Wednesday 25th March all residents and visitors to Italy are legally required to stay at home.  Companies must close all their departments that are not essential to production in order to contain the spread of Coronavirus and protect Italy’s most vulnerable citizens.

Mortgage payments, utility bills, taxes and scholarship payments are suspended during this period, lenders will offer moratoriums to help households and small firms grappling with the economic fallout.

Food & Supplies

Food supplies are guaranteed by the government, there is a virus not a famine.  It is recommended that one person does the shopping, that person is required to fill in this self-certification form each time they leave the house.  All grocery stores and supermarkets will remain open,  but all other stores are closed during this period.  Markets are closed but some are arranging home deliveries.  Pharmacies will remain open as will other essential services like Post Offices and Banks.  Comune offices  will be managed by a skeleton staff and online services promoted as the primary means of communication.

Families can deliver food to grandparents and elderly relatives who are not self-sufficient, but sitting down together for lunch or dinner is prohibited.   All restaurants and bars will remain closed during this period, however it is possible to order takeaway pizza as long as there is no contact between the delivery person and those who ordered it.

Travel

If you are on holiday you are encouraged to return to your home in Abruzzo asap, as many airlines will stop flying to Italy by the 13th March until 8th April.   If you have an emergency or health related trip that requires  you to travel outside your comune or city, you will be required to fill in this public safety self-certificate, in duplicate if you are travelling by plane. This  certificate can be inspected on roads, toll stations  and public transport stations and without this printed off and completed before your journey you will be fined or imprisoned for up to 3 months.

Self-Isolate

If you are a resident or a visitor who has travelled to Abruzzo from outside the region you are required by law to self-isolate for 14 days regardless whether you have symptoms or not to help Italy contain the Coronavirus outbreak.  You would need to arrange for food to be delivered.

The ‘Abruzzo Regione’ legally requires you as resident to inform your local General  Practitioner by telephone or email that you have begun your self-isolation for 14 days, if you are a non-resident you need to inform these health lines that have been set up to assist you:

Who to Call if You Fall Ill

If you fall ill whilst you are in Abruzzo with a temperature of over 37.5 C or a fever, sore throat, dry cough and breathing difficulties do not go to the hospital but call  the toll free line 1500.   Operators in English are available to help give advice and ascertain whether you have a cold, flu or the Coronavirus and arrange for you to be tested, everyone is tested!  Don’t panic the symptoms for many are mild, the virus is more likely to progress into a severe illness or prove fatal among older patients or those with weakened immune systems.

Responsible Travel

Italy has been praised by the WHO for its robust testing, publishing its results, warnings and protective measures.  It is coping, but like all countries its health service is severely stretched by the outbreak of this virus.

Hospital Beds Per 1,000 People (OECD):

Japan 13  | South Korea 12 |  Russia 8  | Germany 8  |  France 6 |  Switzerland 4.5 |  China 4.3 | Scotland 4.2  |  Greece 4.2 | Australia 3.8  |  Italy 3.6 |  Netherlands 3.3 |  Spain 3  |  Ireland 2.9 |  USA 2.7  | 󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England 2.5

If you have underlying health issues and are travelling to Abruzzo from an area in your home country that is currently experiencing a growth in the number of people diagnosed with the Coronavirus, please be responsible and  consider the impact of your travel on Italy’s health service and her residents.  Italy has an aging population, particularly evident in Abruzzo’s Apennine mountain villages.  It is this age bracket most at risk from developing viral pneumonia as a result of having the Coronavirus which antibiotics cannot be used to treat and can result in organ failure.

Travel

Do always check websites and your airline before travelling for their latest travel advice

Abruzzo Airport (PSR)

see the official website

• Ryanair have announced that all international flights to Italy will be suspended from midnight, Friday 13th March until Wednesday 8th April.  All  domestic flights will be cancelled from  midnight, Wednesday 11th March until Wednesday 8th April.   read more
• Airitalia has suspended its Pescara > Milano Linate flights  and its Pescara > Malta until the 3rd April
• Volotea has suspended its Pescara > Catania flights until the 3rd April
• Romania has suspended flights to and from Italy until at least 23rd March which will affect Ryanair’s Pescara > Bucharest flight.

Buses & Coaches

see the official website

Coach lines are providing the possibility to travel without a passenger sitting next to you in order to follow Italian govt guidelines about keeping a 1 metre distance from strangers.

Railway

see the official website

Train services have been reduced namely the Turin > Milan > Lecce line  that stops at Pescara, see the latest updates here

Bars, Restaurants & Takeaway

Takeaways can continue to be ordered and delivered between 18.00-06.00 as long as there is no contact between those who order and those who deliver.

Museums, Events, Ski Resorts

All of Italy’s museums, archaeological sites, theatres, cinemas and library and document archives, concerts, private and public events including markets are closed or cancelled till after the 3rd April.  Sport centres, swimming pools and all sporting fixtures including Serie A have been suspended and ski resorts have now closed early for the season.  St Peter’s Square &  St Peter’s Basilica has been closed by The Vatican but they have not made a decision on whether its open-air mass for Easter will take place.

Guidelines

• Wash hands thoroughly with soap or anti-bacterial gel
• Don’t hug, kiss or handshake when greeting friends and family
• Avoid crowded places and leave 1 metre between you and the next person
• If you are aged over 75 you are advised to remain at home.  Those aged 65 with existing health problems should stay indoors.
• Do use your elbow or a tissue when coughing or sneezing.

Further Information

• The official Abruzzo Region website
• The Civil Protection website

Author: Sam Dunham

Sam is a very lucky midlife 'mamma' to A who is 13 and juggles working as a freelance SEO copywriter & teaches IGCSEs at Istituo Cristo Re in Rome. She is the founder of the Life In Abruzzo Cultural Association, co-founder of Let's Blog Abruzzo and 'English in the Woods' initiative.