The country will be divided into three zones – red, orange and yellow – according to the intensity of the virus in each region.
The zoning depends on 21 factors, including local infection rates and hospital occupancy, with restrictions calibrated accordingly.
People in the highest-risk zones will have to stay within their comune, or municipality, and will only be 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 May.
Conte gave a televised address on Wednesday evening, two days after the new system was announced, detailing which regions would be under which category.
He said the red zones would comprise the large northern regions of Lombardy and neighbouring Piedmont, along with Calabria in Italy’s southern toe and the tiny alpine region of Valle d’Aosta.
The orange regions, where shops will remain open and people can move freely within their towns and cities but not leave them, are Puglia in Italy’s heel and the southern island of Sicily.
The rest of the country’s 20 regions, including Lazio around Rome, will be yellow, meaning there are no restrictions other than those imposed nationwide, including a 10:00 pm to 5:00 am curfew, the closure of shopping centres on the weekend and reduced public transport capacity.
“With these measures, we can cool the contagion curve and regain some semblance of normality,” Conte said in his address.
Red-zone restrictions will resemble those imposed earlier this year during a strict nationwide lockdown, with residents’ movements severely limited.
But unlike then, churches and parks will be open, hairdressers will operate and restaurants can serve take-out food until the national curfew.
Retail stores in those areas not selling essential goods such as food and pharmaceuticals are to shut, and people will be restricted from travelling outside their home town or city.
Schools will also have to move to remote learning from the second grade of middle school upwards in red zones, while this is only mandatory for high schools in other areas.
Italy’s health ministry decides which region is in which zone based on the advice of its Technical Scientific Committee (CTS), effectively bypassing regional authorities – many of which have said they were against a local lockdown or other tough measures.
The provisions apply until December 3, while the government is expected to revise the situation weekly and issue new ordinances every 15 days, according to the new decree.
Italy recorded 352 coronavirus-related deaths on Wednesday after registering 353 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 30,550 from 28,244.
