ROME: Italy has extended its state of emergency imposed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic until April 30, the government said in a statement Thursday.

This came one day after Italy’s COVID-19 death toll has exceeded the 80,000-mark. The country first declared a national state of emergency due to the pandemic on Jan. 31, 2020.

The existing COVID-19 containment measures are also extended to April 30, including a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew and a three-tiered color-coded system that was introduced last year, with varying restrictions according to the rate of transmission of the virus.

The government also introduced a fourth level — white — with very few COVID-19 restrictions, which will correspond to regions with under 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants.

No Italian regions are in the white zone yet. As of the latest order signed by Health Minister Roberto Speranza, most of Italy is now a yellow zone, while five regions are orange. (Xinhua/RSS)