Rome: Travellers to Italy are no longer required to have a valid coronavirus pass as of Wednesday, Italian authorities have announced.

The country’s Health Ministry said the regulation obliging visitors to present a so-called Green Pass — which showed proof of vaccination, recent recovery or a negative test — would expire .

“I think the conditions exist for a summer without restrictions,” Undersecretary of Health Andrea Costa said.

People walk through Duomo Square in front of the Dome Cathedral in Milan, Italy. The country is will now welcome visitors without a need for proof of vaccination.Credit:Bloomberg

Costa urged people to “continue to be prudent and have a sense of responsibility” but said pressure on hospitals was low and conditions in the country were “positive”.

Italy was the first country in Europe to be hit hard by the coronavirus, with deaths spiking to more than 800 per day during the first months of the pandemic, according to a New York Times database. The government imposed stringent restrictions in response to the deadly first wave, although deaths surged again late in 2020.

Those measures have been gradually lifted as a result of a vaccination campaign that has delivered shots to more than 90 per cent of the population older than 12, according to the health minister.

A mandate that high-quality N95 masks be worn on public transport, trains and ferries as well as at indoor cinemas, concerts, theatres and schools is in effect until June 15. Government officials have not said whether that requirement would be extended.

“Recent experience has taught us that the summer has always been the easiest moment to manage, because people are outside a lot,” Health Minister Roberto Speranza told reporters in Rome, according to news agency ANSA. “But we have to remain prepared.”

Discussions at an international level “tell us that the game isn’t over,” he said.

The country is still experiencing a weekly average of about 19,000 cases and 85 deaths each day.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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