Over half of Italians back giving up freedoms for public health amid COVID-19 - survey

FILE PHOTO: Medical workers visit the home of a patient suspected to be suffering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to carry out a swab test, as a part of an initiative by the Spallazani hospital to help elderly people who struggle to leave their homes, in Rome, Italy, December 3, 2020. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo

ROME (Reuters) - More than half of Italians think it is right to give up personal freedom to protect public health, a survey said on Friday, suggesting the government's curbs to fight the COVID-19 pandemic still have public support.

Some 57.8% of respondents accept that the government should decide "when and under what conditions they can leave their houses, what they can or cannot do, who they can see and where" to protect health, a survey by Censis research institute said.