Italy: Tighter measures to be introduced in repatriation centres after coronavirus case emerges

The Italian interior ministry has asked personnel at repatriation centres around the country to closely monitor the health of the migrant residents to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease. The order comes after on case of coronavirus was confirmed in a repatriation centre in northern Italy last week.

Newly admitted migrants should be given a medical examination to screen for symptoms of the disease. They will also be made to stay in separate accommodation for at least two weeks.

A letter from the head of the ministry’s Department for Civil Liberties and Immigration, Michele Di Bari, stressed the need for migrants living in the centres to have access to the “appropriate material for care and hygiene.” He also highlighted the need for them to be “carefully informed about measures to adopt to prevent contagion from the virus.”

TMP_13/04/2020

Photo Credit: Shutterstock/LorenzoPeg

Photo Caption: Immigrants and asylum seekers outside the center of permanence for repatriation of the Italian town of Gradisca d’Isonzo (27th June 2017)