From Jan. 10 more activities and venues - including open-air restaurants, hotels and ski lifts - will be open only to the vaccinated and those who recently recovered from the disease.The same rules will be valid for public transport.

Daily coronavirus cases have soared in Italy in the last weeks, with the number of hospitalised patients rising.

Italy on Wednesday (January 5) made COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for people from the age of 50, one of very few European countries to take a similar step, in an attempt to ease pressure on its health service and reduce fatalities.

Italy has registered more than 138,000 coronavirus deaths since its outbreak emerged in February 2020, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain.