An ambitious COVID-19 mass testing programme has begun in the north-eastern Italian region of Alto Adige.
Authorities there are aiming to give antibody tests to 80 per cent of the more than one million-strong population within two days.
On a wider national level, the country’s health ministry is assessing the status of the virus situation in Lombardy, Piedmont and Calabria as the government considers easing lockdown measures ahead of the end-of-year festive season.
Infection rates across Italy are showing signs of levelling out.
But students in Rome say they don’t want to stay at home. Instead, they are protesting school closures and remote learning by holding a sit-in just outside their school gates.
They say they’ve been inspired by young climate activists and the Fridays for Future global climate movement.
One of the students, Aleria Cigliana, says the government is not doing enough to protect schools:
“The reason why we are not inside our schools and, instead, sitting on the ground outside doing remote learning is because there is not enough space. Classrooms are too small and there is no way to go back to school safely.
“This is a huge problem because avoiding investment in schools and not making it a priority means having a long-term vision and not understanding what the future is about because we represent the future of this country.”
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