Movement began with 12-year-old Anita Iacovelli in Turin, who says her message is schools are safe

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Temperatures have dropped in recent days in the northern Italian city of Turin, but that hasn’t prevented Anita Iacovelli from persevering in her protest against the closure of her school.

Every day since 6 November, when schools across the city and the wider Piedmont region were closed due to escalating coronavirus infections, the 12-year-old, wearing a hat, gloves and face mask, has sat outside Italo Calvino school and continued with her lessons remotely on a tablet computer. Behind her is a handwritten poster that reads “Learning at school is our right”.

Doctors urge tougher national action as hospitals struggle to treat coronavirus patients

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Doctors in Italy have warned there will be an additional 10,000 Covid-19 deaths in a month in the country unless a national lockdown is imposed.

The government is moving toward placing further restrictions in four more regions considered high risk: Campania, Liguria, Abruzzo and Umbria.

With citizens and health service overstretched, protests are gaining momentum in the Italian city

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The four women huddling around their neighbour in an alleyway off Via dei Tribunali, in central Naples, took turns to call an ambulance. “It’s an absolute disaster!” yelled one of them, called Antonietta. “Nobody is responding, we’ve been trying for hours.”

The woman sitting on a chair in the middle of them, with her head bent forward, had a heart problem. Not even taxi drivers were answering the phone. One woman suggested calling the police. “Now do you understand why we’re so angry?” added Antonietta. “Things are so desperate here – Covid is not the only thing that is killing us.”

Demonstrations have continued across Italy as hundreds of people gathered to protest against measures imposed by the government to contain the spread of coronavirus. After four days of protests, supporters of the rightwing group Forza Nuova gathered in Piazza del Popolo where they clashed with riot police. The government has introduced a relief package for businesses affected by the restrictions, which include a 6pm curfew for bars and restaurants and the closure of gyms, swimming pools, cinemas and theatres

• Italy to unveil lockdown relief package as protests continue