Government imposes lockdown of culture (and more) until April 30: everything closed

It had already been in the air for days but now there is officialdom: with the decree-law approved by the Council of Ministers in the evening of March 31, the culture lockdown is extended until April 30. Another month of closure, therefore, for museums, theaters, cinemas, and concert halls. With the new decree-law, therefore, the months of closure for theaters, cinemas and halls, for which the lockdown was ordered last October 25, rise to six, while slightly better went for museums, which were closed in November and experienced a few timid openings in January, only to see themselves closed again.

The text provides for the extension until April 30, 2021, of the application of the provisions of the dpcm of March 2, 2021 (unless they conflict with the provisions of the same decree-law) and of some measures already provided for in the decree-law of March 13, 2021 In particular, the extension concerns the de facto abolition of the yellow zone (the measures of the orange zone are in fact applied to the yellow zones), the extension of the measures provided for the red zone in case of a particular incidence of contagion (greater than 250 cases per 100,000 inhabitants and in areas with variant circulation) either by order of the Minister of Health or by measure of the Presidents of the Regions, and the possibility, in the orange zone, of a daily movement to a single private inhabited dwelling in the municipal area.

And because all of Italy will be either orange or red, the lockdown is effectively extended to several activities, for example, catering, which will only be able to operate on a take-out or home delivery basis. And because the yellow zone will be abolished, the decree-law has caused discontent among mayors, who also complain that they have not been involved in the decision-making process, which would be the first time this has happened. “We find out that there are no more white and yellow zones,” comments Antonio Decaro, mayor of Bari and president of ANCI, “and that many economic activities will remain closed for another month with no certainty about the timing of the disbursement of relief for previous closures. And for the first time, mayors and provincial presidents have not been consulted or informed about the measures contained in the text. I have to say that at such a delicate time for the country we expected anything but a fracture in institutional collaboration. It will mean that we will ask the ministers to come and explain the measure on the streets and in the squares where until today we were the target of citizens’ legitimate protests.”

The decree-law also provides for the possibility, by April 30, to make amendments to the adopted measures through specific deliberations of the Council of Ministers. At the moment, however, it is not known on what basis any relaxation of the current strict restrictive measures will be decided. As for schools, the measure stipulates that educational services for infancy, kindergarten, the first cycle of education and the first year of secondary school will open throughout the country. In short, all children up to the sixth grade will go to school. For the subsequent grades of education, the conduct of in-presence activities is confirmed from 50 percent to 75 percent of the student population in the orange zone while in the red zone the relevant activities will be conducted remotely, while still ensuring the possibility of in-presence activities for pupils with disabilities and special educational needs.

The decree then provides for the criminal shield for health care workers who vaccinate (the criminal liability of medical and health care personnel in charge of administering the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine will be excluded for the crimes of culpable homicide and culpable personal injury committed during the emergency period, provided that the vaccinations are carried out in accordance with the indications contained in the marketing authorization measure and the circulars published on the institutional website of the Ministry of Health related to it) and the suspension of health care workers who do not vaccinate (it will last until December 31 at the latest).

There are also some novelties regarding competitions. In fact, the decree-law provides exemptions for the conduct of public competitions, stipulating that only one written and one oral test will be held, with decentralized modalities. The text also provides for further simplified modalities (optional oral test) for competitions related to the period of the health emergency and the possibility, when fully implemented, for commissions to subdivide into subcommittees. In addition, from May 3, 2021, competitions will resume in presence, subject to the guidelines of the Scientific and Technical Committee. Perhaps there is hope, then, that the Ministry of Culture’s competition for fruition, reception and supervision assistants, which has been suspended for more than a year, will restart.

In the photo: Parma, Teatro Regio

Government imposes lockdown of culture (and more) until April 30: everything closed

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