Italy has extended Covid restrictions already in place on travellers from other European countries for 15 days, the health ministry said, adding that it had also imposed a ban on people coming from Sri Lanka.
People entering Italy from other European countries face five days of quarantine and mandatory testing both before arrival and at the end of their isolation period.
The government already banned travel from India and Bangladesh amid fears of a surge of cases in the region.
Italy reported 288 coronavirus-related deaths on Thursday against 344 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 14,320 from 13,385.
Italy has registered 120,544 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the seventh-highest in the world. The country has reported 4 million cases to date.
Patients in hospital with COVID-19 – not including those in intensive care – stood at 19,351 on Thursday, down from19,860 a day earlier.
There were 129 new admissions to intensive care units, decreasing from 168 on Wednesday. The total number of intensive care patients was down to 2,640 from a previous 2,711 .
Some 330,075 tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 336,336, the health ministry said.
Photo: Passengers are requested to register for a mandatory swab test in the arrivals area of Naples’ International Airport Capodichino, in Naples, Italy. EPA-EFE/CIRO FUSCO
