Italy will be closed for Easter as the country struggles to contain growing COVID-19 cases.
From Monday, Italians in the most populous regions will have to stay at home, except for work, health or other essential reasons.
The entire country will be closed over the Easter weekend for the second consecutive year from April 3-5.
Cases have risen across the country by more than 25,000 a day in the past six weeks as Italy’s vaccination campaign is hit by delays.
Officials warn that they are rapidly losing ground in the fight against new highly contagious variants.
Only 3 percent of the country is vaccinated, according to Johns Hopkins University.
“Italy is administering about 170,000 doses a day – our goal is to triple that,” said Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
“Only with large-scale vaccinations will we be able to do without restrictions like the ones we had to adopt.”
More than 100,000 Italians have died from complications of coronavirus, the second highest value in Europe after Britain.
Unlike last year, when Italy became the first county in the west to implement a national blockade, officials will allow limited visits to friends and relatives during the Easter holiday.
Pope Francis’ Easter Vigil will probably take place earlier, so that the faithful can observe a rule at 10 p.m.
Italians with non-essential jobs were also ordered to stay indoors for most of the Christmas and New Year holidays.
“I hope this will be the last sacrifice required of our citizens,” said Lombardy President Attilio Fontana.
Italian health officials approved the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine on Friday. The doses will be administered in a month, which the leaders said will help efforts to combat growth.
With Post threads