Italy set to impose new anti-COVID-19 social restrictions, no national lockdown

The new rules would include limits or a full ban on parties at home, as well as a prohibition for people to linger outside bars, clubs, and stores in order to avoid gatherings, according to Health Minister Roberto Speranza.

Speaking to local media, Speranza explained that the measure on private parties aimed at stemming the virus from spreading within family circles.

According to the latest monitoring report by Italy's National Health Institute (ISS), 77.6 percent of the hotbeds across the country "keep occurring in the domestic circle."

A new cabinet decree containing the new rules has to be passed by October 15 at the latest, but might be delivered as soon as Monday evening, according to Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.

"I have good reasons to rule out a national lockdown, but such provision at the local level might be needed if the (pandemic) curve keeps rising," Ansa news agency quoted Conte as saying on Monday while in the southern city of Taranto.

"We will try to approve the new decree tonight," Conte said.

Other expected rules include a reduction from 14 days to 10 days in the period of isolation at home for those who got in contact with a person that has tested positive for the coronavirus.

As of Monday, Italy's cumulative number of COVID-19 cases totals 359,569, including 82,764 active cases, an increase of 3,689 new active infections against the previous day.

Since October 1, the daily increases in new cases ranged between 2,500 and 5,700, still low compared to other European countries, but enough to raise the alert at the national level.

Therefore, the cabinet on October 7 reintroduced the mandatory use of face masks everywhere outdoor and indoor, when not in contact with household members, and extended the state of emergency until January 31, 2021.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), face masks should be used as part of a comprehensive strategy of measures to suppress COVID-19 transmission and save lives.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreaks in early 2020, wearing masks in public has been widely accepted in Asian countries like China, South Korea, Japan and Vietnam to limit the spread of COVID-19.