Italy considers extending Covid state of emergency until late July

Country records more than 15,000 new coronavirus infections and 649 deaths on Tuesday

Italian PM Giuseppe Conte faces a potential political showdown with  ministers due to meet this week to sign off on the country’s economic recovery plan (Reuters)

Italy is considering extending its state of emergency over the coronavirus pandemic until 31 July, according to local media.

The emergency status, which is due to expire at the end of January, grants the government greater powers and allows officials to more easily bypass the bureaucracy that hinders some decision-making.

The Il Messaggeroa national newspaper said on Wednesday the state of emergency could be extended for a further six months. 

The Italian government first imposed the policy at the end of January last year and stopped all flights to and from China after the first two cases of Covid-19 were detected in Chinese tourists in Rome.

On Tuesday, Italy reported 649 coronavirus-related deaths, nearly double the figure from the day before. It also recorded 15,378 new infections, up from 10,800 on Monday.

Since the start of the outbreak, Italy has confirmed 2.1 million cases and 76,329 known deaths from coronavirus.

In a bid to curb the second wave of infections and speed up the pace of the national vaccination campaign, the government delayed the reopening from schools to 11 January and said ski slopes will remain closed until 18 January.

It comes as prime minister Giuseppe Conte faces a potential political showdown with ministers due to meet this week to sign off on the country’s economic recovery plan.

Former prime minister Matteo Renzi, leader of Italia Viva, threatened to pull his support for the coalition government as he said Mr Conte’s plan for economic recovery was not ambitious enough.

Italy is one of the main beneficiaries of a €750bn (£680bn) economic package from the European Union, and is expecting about €208bn in grants and low-interest loans. 

But the biggest challenge is how the money will be used, as Italy has the second highest public debt in the EU and was already grappling with a flailing economy even before Covid-19 hit.

Additional reporting by Reuters