New Year 2022, the shadow of the Omicron variant on the squares

New Year’s Eve 2022 in the name of prudence and in the shadow of the Omicron variant. After the surge in covid infections in Italy – 30,798 only yesterday – the mayors are backtracking on the festivities in the square, focusing on the safety of citizens and canceling the concertos scheduled for New Year’s Eve. Painful but necessary decisions, they have been explaining for days, to avert new outbreaks and new cases of variant originating from South Africa. Waiting for the control room on Thursday, where at this point the hypothesis of a tightening of the rules with new measures is becoming more and more concrete, the cities and regions run preventively for cover by canceling the scheduled shows together with the probable gatherings. Read also Leader in the decision was De Luca’s Campania, which with the signing of a binding ordinance banned parties and street performances during the Christmas and New Year periods throughout the region. Consequently, no concert in Piazza del Plebiscito in Naples this year, but a show at the Maschio Angioino, without an audience, which will be broadcast on TV on private Neapolitan networks, the decision of Mayor Manfredi. announced in a note by Alessandro Onorato, Councilor for Major Events, Sport and Tourism of Rome Capital, and with Lazio preparing for the yellow zone for New Year’s Eve. “Everything was ready to celebrate the New Year in style and bring Rome back to the center of great events. We had chosen some great Roman artists for the restart, a spectacular location such as the Circus Maximus and an impeccable organization for safety. Coez, Blanco and Tommaso Paradiso would have guaranteed a large audience participation and the interest of all the national media. But in this moment – explained the commissioner – our priority is and must be to safeguard the health of the Romans and avoid gatherings that can aggravate a pandemic situation which, although under control, presents worrying aspects. For this reason, after having also heard the opinion of the competent authorities and the Prefecture, we are forced to cancel the New Year’s Concert ”.
Farewell New Year’s concert also in Bologna, with the stop at the event scheduled in Piazza Maggiore. The decision was taken by the Public Order and Security Committee which met in recent days. “A decision that we take with a sense of responsibility and which I believe will be understood by the citizens of Bologna – explains Mayor Matteo Lepore -. At a time when infections start to rise again and in which we ask everyone to get vaccinated and protect themselves, including our boys and girls, we must avoid potential infections or inconsistent situations “. And if the mayor of Milano Sala specified that “Until Christmas the situation will be calm, we’ll see later. For New Year’s Eve we limited our events and launched some signals of attention “, the Florence event still in the balance:” We have on the table the decision to confirm or not the New Year’s parties: on the events in the neighborhoods, if I am asked if I am more to cancel them or not, I say I am more to cancel them. But we will take the next 48 hours as a scruple, to see the progress of the infections and then we will decide “, said yesterday the mayor of Florence Dario Nardella, speaking, by telephone, to Lady Radio. yellow zone from Monday 20 December, the mask is back in the open. But other rules are also triggered, foreseen by the ordinance that the governor Luca Zaia has signed to introduce further measures. Then there are the recommendations “dictated by common sense. Above all, that of getting a tampon before attending the Christmas Eve dinner, the Christmas lunch, the New Year’s party. Do-it-yourself is enough, now available in pharmacies – says Zaia – online and in the supermarket. It’s a form of ‘guest courtesy’ if you like. Covid has even changed the etiquette “.