Covid passports are required for restaurants, bars and cafes and face masks are mandatory in indoor venues.
Outdoor gatherings will be limited to ten people on New Year's Eve, when a negative test will be needed to enter indoor venues or parties. The new measures were announced by Prime Minister Antonio Costa on Tuesday. He said most of the measures were planned for early January but the rapid spread of Omicron forced the government to implement them ahead of time.Bars and restaurants will have to close at 10pm on Christmas Eve, and for three weeks starting on December 28, restaurants in many regions will have to close at 6pm with limited seating.
People can enter without these documents only for essential reasons or from countries on the EU's green list.Bars, cafes and restaurants must only have seated service from Wednesday, and people are being urged to work from home.