CTS reportedly gives approval for Italy's yellow zone restaurants to open for both lunch and dinner, and for orange zone restaurants to open for lunch - from 5 March - pending approval from government.

The technical scientific committee (CTS) advising the Italian government has given its approval for restaurants in yellow zone regions to open in the evenings from 5 March, while restaurants in orange zones would be allowed to open for lunch, reports Italy's newspaper of record Corriere della Sera.

Currently restaurants in yellow zones are permitted to serve food and drink on their premises from 05.00 and 18.00, after which take-away is allowed until the nationwide curfew kicks in at 22.00.

Bars and restaurants in Italy's orange zones can currently only serve food to take away, from 05.00 until 18.00, with no take-away service in the evening.

• Covid-19 in Italy: what are the yellow zone rules?

The relaxing of measures - which requires government approval - would see restaurants open for lunch and dinner in regions classified as low-risk yellow zones under Italy's tiered system of coronavirus restrictions.

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