Italy will ease the containment of the coronavirus in many areas from April 26, the government said on Friday, that warnings still need to be issued to avoid reversing the reopening of many long-running activities.
For most of this year, there will be business and traffic restrictions in Italy, which has the seventh highest death toll in the world and continues to report hundreds of fatalities every day.
The current restrictions were due to expire in early May and no decision had yet been made on how to replace them.
Prime Minister Mario Draghi set a broad timetable for reopening after pressure from parties in his national unity government, particularly the right-wing League.
“The government is taking a reasonable risk based on data that is improving, although not dramatically,” Draghi told a news conference.
Last month, as the number of cases and hospitalizations increased, Italy discontinued the four-layer, color-coded system it uses to calibrate the restrictions in its 20 regions and enforce the tougher red or orange zones across the country.
From April 26, the milder yellow and white zones will be restored where the infection level is low. In these areas, restaurants and bars can serve their customers at outdoor tables and reopen cinemas and theaters with a limited number of visitors.
“Our idea is to allow outdoor swimming pools from May 15 and resume some fitness activities on June 1,” Health Minister Roberto Speranza told reporters.
Currently, three regions are red and 17 orange, with strict business and traffic restrictions. With the number of new cases gradually decreasing, many of these cases hope to turn yellow when the color zone is restored.
Draghi said it would be critical that people strictly respect social aloofness rules and wear face masks to proceed with the reopenings.
“This is based on the premise that people and institutions comply with the rules so that this reasonable risk is successful,” he said.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Principles of Trust.