Five Italian Governors Wish to Follow Austria’s Lead in Locking Down the Unvaccinated

Due to a heightened fear that Italy will soon suffer a ‘fourth wave’ of Covid infections, five of Italy’s 20 regional governors have come out in favour of copying Austria’s unvaccinated lockdown. The Telegraph has the story.

Although 84% of Italians over 12 years-old are double-jabbed, that still leaves around seven million who have still refused to have the vaccination.

The number of infections is steadily rising, as there were nearly 7,700 new cases on Tuesday, compared with 5,100 cases on Monday. Italy’s death toll from the virus stands at nearly 133,000, which is the highest in the E.U.

“Eventual new lockdowns should not have to be suffered by those who are vaccinated. Restrictions should only apply to those who are not immunized,” said Massimiliano Fedriga, the Governor of Friuli-Venezia Giulia in the northeast of the country.

His stance is supported by the governors of Tuscany, Calabria, Liguria and Piedmont.

Matteo Renzi, a former Prime Minister and now head of a small centre-left party, agrees. “You’re not vaccinated? Then stay at home,” he wrote on social media.

It comes as the Czech Republic is moving to ban people who have not been jabbed from public services.

Andrej Babis, the Czech Prime Minister, said that from Monday the authorities will ban unvaccinated people from access to a range of services as Eastern Europe battles a new wave of infections.

Slovakia is also due to vote on Thursday on banning the unvaccinated from non-essential shops, hotels, big public gatherings, gyms and swimming pools.

The Czech Republic reported more than 22,000 new cases on Wednesday, nearly 8,000 more than a week ago.

Worth reading in full.

Stop Press: A piece in the Express highlights that Britain’s initial Covid response was originally inspired by Italy’s lockdown, and that U.K. experts could still be influenced by what future restrictions the nation introduces.