Italy extends regional travel ban as coronavirus worries rise

The Italian government on Friday extended a travel ban between regions amid rising concern about the spread of more infectious coronavirus variants.

In one of his final acts in office, outgoing prime minister Giuseppe Conte's cabinet prolonged restrictions that had been due to expire on Monday until February 25, a spokesman said.

The measure maintains the status quo while Italy brings to an end a political crisis that has paralysed the government for weeks.

Conte resigned two weeks ago and is set to be succeeded on Friday or during the weekend by former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi.

"We need quick decisions because the course of the virus and its variants are certainly not slowing down for a government crisis," the GIMBE health think tank warned on Thursday.

Italy, where nearly 93,000 people have died from Covid-19, has recently seen several outbreaks of different variants of the coronavirus.

Almost 18 per cent of the cases recently detected are linked to the British strain, national health authorities said Friday.

This compares with 20-25 per cent in France and 30 per cent in Germany, the National Institute of Health said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the northern Lombardy region was planning to reopen its ski resorts on Monday, albeit with special precautions to limit crowding on mountain slopes.

Other regions are expected to follow suit.

It would be the first time in the current winter season that downhill skiing is allowed in Italy, after weeks of coronavirus-related closures.

But on Friday health authorities also issued a weekly report indicating that the R value -- which measures how fast the virus is spreading -- had risen slightly to 0,95, from 0,84 last week.

The worsening pandemic data will likely shift some regions into higher risk categories and prompt them to tighten virus restrictions.

Localised lockdowns have already been enforced in a few provinces in central Italy, and South Tyrol in the north announced one from Sunday.

Earlier this month, Italy eased virus rules following a winter holidays lockdown, reclassifying most of its regions as lower-risk "yellow" zones.

This meant that people could move freely within their own regions, and allowed for the daytime reopening of bars, restaurants and museums.