Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli has admitted to breaking coronavirus restrictions as he claimed the nationwide lockdown was "humiliating".
The comments will come as a surprise to many Italians, after the tenor had become a symbol of national unity during the lockdown with his livestreamed 'Music for Hope' performance at an empty cathedral in Milan on Easter Sunday.
Bocelli delivered a speech at a conference in which he revealed he broke the coronavirus lockdown restrictions.
He said he disobeyed the government's rules "because I did not think it was right or healthy to stay home at my age".
"I am a certain age and I need sun and vitamin D," he added.
The opera singer revealed in May that he had contracted coronavirus but did not want to make his illness public out of respect for those who have suffered “more serious consequences” from Covid-19.
But during his speech at the conference, Bocelli said he felt "offended and humiliated" by the lockdown restrictions.
"I could not leave the house even though I had committed no crime," he said.
Bocelli said the outbreak had been overblown and he didn't know anyone in intensive care.
"So what was all this sense of gravity for?" he asked
He continued: "Let's refuse to follow this rule. Let's read books, move around, get to know each other, talk, dialogue."
Bocelli also took issue with safety measures that have been introduced in schools to prevent the spread of the virus.
"I have an eight-year-old daughter and it's unthinkable that these children will have to go to school divided by a piece of plexiglass and hidden behind a mask," he said.
"It's unthinkable that schools were closed so quickly, and with the same speed nightclubs were reopened, where young people go not to learn, but to disperse their brains."
More than 35,000 people have died after contracting coronavirus in Italy.
The country was seen as the epicentre of the outbreak when the pandemic first spread to Europe.
Face masks are mandatory on public transport and in shops and Italians are expected to maintain a distance of one metre in public spaces.
