Protests against coronavirus restrictions are spreading across Italy, with violent incidents in Milan, Turin and Rome, while infections have surged to a new daily record.
A few hundred people, including members of the neo-Fascist Forza Nuova party, clashed with police in Rome’s central Piazza del Popolo at around 7 pm (1800 GMT) Tuesday.
Protesters threw paper bombs, set fire to rubbish bins and damaged parked bicycles and scooters, while riot police responded with water cannon and charges, the ANSA news agency said.
On Monday, the Italian government imposed the most draconian restrictions since the end of the lockdown in June in a bid to contain a mounting second wave of coronavirus infections.
Bars and restaurants were ordered shut at 6 pm; gyms, pools, cinemas, theatres and concert halls closed; and high schools told to hold online classes for at least 75 per cent of students.
Overnight into Tuesday, several hundred protesters assembled in Milan outside the regional government’s offices by the main train station, with some throwing stones, petrol bombs and fireworks.
Around the same time, protesters smashed shop windows in Turin’s centre, lit firecrackers, threw bottles and smoke bombs and overturned garbage containers.
A Gucci luxury goods store was among those looted by rioters.
A police spokesman in Milan told dpa that 28 people were taken to police headquarters after the incidents, but no arrests had yet been formalized. An officer was lightly injured, he added.
In Turin there were six arrests for crimes including resisting arrest and theft and around 10 police officers were injured, according to ANSA.
There were demonstrations in several other cities, including Naples, Catania and Trieste. In Mestre, near Venice, a restaurant hosted a pre-curfew Monday dinner attended by Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro.
“I hope they will do a U-turn on these measures,” he said on Twitter.
There were more anti-restrictions riots in Naples on Friday night and in Rome on Saturday night, animated by football hooligans and far-right extremists.
Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese was set to address the Senate on Wednesday about the multiple incidents of unrest, amid concern about rising social tensions.
Many Italians are weary of new curbs, after enduring one of the world’s longest lockdowns, and amid a gloomy outlook for the economy, expected to shrink by around 10 per cent this year.
The government met Tuesday and approved 2.4-billion-euros’ (2.8 billion dollars’) worth of emergency aid for workers and businesses affected by mandatory closures.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said restaurants, bars, ice cream parlours, cinemas, theatres and others would be offered grants, credits and waivers on tax and social security payments.
Earlier, Conte wrote a letter on the Corriere della Sera daily to respond to Riccardo Muti, a famed orchestra conductor who protested the shutdown of the culture sector.
“It was a particularly painful decision,” the prime minister told Muti, addressing him as “maestro” and stressing, “We are forced to make these further sacrifices.”
In a month, Italy’s daily infection numbers have roughly increased tenfold.
On Tuesday, infections reached a record 21,994, while Covid-19-related deaths rose by 221, the highest daily figure since mid-May.
Another worrying trend is the escalating number of intensive care patients. They increased by more than five times in a month, to 1,411 on Tuesday.