Covid-19: Where and when is travel restricted within Italy?

Rome: In addition to international travel restrictions, there are new limits on where you can go within Italy from Friday – but they vary depending on region and time of day.

Italy had another new set of coronavirus rules in force from Friday November 6th, and they include restrictions on movement within the country.

The whole country will be under a nighttime curfew from 10pm-5am from Friday, and this means no unnecessary travel is permitted during those hours.

If you need to go out during curfew hours, for example to go to work, you can. But you’ll have to justify your reasons for doing so using a self-certification form. The form is only available in Italian and must be completed in Italian – see our guide to downloading and completing it here.

Other rules however vary depending on where in Italy you are, due to a new three-tier system based on the local coronavirus situation in each of the 20 regions.

The whole of Italy has been placed under “yellow zone” rules, while two regions are orange (medium-risk) and four are red (high risk).

They are as follows: Red (high risk) zones: Lombardy, Calabria, Piedmont, Valle d’Aosta Orange (medium risk) zones: Puglia, Sicily

Yellow zones: All other regions; Abruzzo, Basilicata, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Liguria, Marche, Molise Sardinia, Tuscany, Umbria, Veneto, and the Provinces of Trento and Bolzano.

People in the highest-risk red and orange zones are told to stay within their comune, or municipality, and are only allowed to leave for work, study, health or other essential reasons, as Italy brings in the strictest measures since its two-month spring lockdown was eased.

In red zones, restrictions on movement resemble those imposed earlier this year during a severe national lockdown, with residents’ movements curtailed further.

In addition to not being allowed to travel from one municipality to another, people in red zones are not allowed to move around within their own area, unless for essential reasons, using either public or private transport.

If you need to go out for work, health or other essential reasons these must be justified using a self-certification form.

You can only enter or leave an orange or red zone for urgent reasons.

This means residents in a yellow zone would not be allowed to enter a red zone region without a proven need to do so, and vice versa.

Just as during phase one of Italy’s emergency, you’re allowed to travel between regions for work, health reasons or other emergencies.
The rules also forbid travel between provinces or comunes within red and orange-zone regions.

The decree states that people can travel for “proven work or health reasons and situations of urgency.”

For example, if you have a medical appointment or need to be somewhere for work or business, you’re allowed to travel.

If you’re in Italy at the moment and need to leave the country for an urgent reason, this will be permitted, whether or not you are a resident.

However you’ll need to fill out a a self-certification form.and be able to provide proof, as police may check your story.

What exactly counts as an emergency or a “situation of need” is more open to interpretation by local authorities. If in doubt, contact your local comune or caribinieri police station.

Yes. Public transport is still running. However, it’s limited to 50 percent of maximum capacity (with the exception of school transport.)

People have also been asked to avoid using public transport however unless absolutely necessary, for example to get to work.