Italy eases coronavirus restrictions as four million people return to work

Four million factory and construction workers will be back on the job for the first time since March 9

Italy is easing coronavirus lockdown measures as the country comes out of the longest lockdown in Europe.

As Italy takes its first steps, Germany, is also adopting a tapered approach to lifting the restrictions and on Monday schools reopened for the first time.
A slew of other countries, including Poland and Hungary, eased some restrictions.

In Italy, four million construction and factory workers will be back on the job for the first time since March 9, and restaurants will be able to start selling takeaway food.

But bars and ice-cream parlours will remain shut. The use of public transport will be discouraged and everyone will have to wear masks in indoor public spaces.

“We are feeling a mix of joy and fear,” Stefano Milano, 40, in Rome told AFP.

Italy’s economy – the eurozone’s third-largest last year – is expected to shrink more than in any year since the global depression of the 1930s.

Half of the workforce is already receiving state support.

In Austria, Vienna airport will offer on-site testing site for travellers for the first time, while in Germany, schools are opening for the first time.

Passengers landing at Vienna airport will be subjected to a Covid-19 test, so that they are not put under automatic quarantine.

The test result is back in three hours. Passengers leaving Austria can also pay for a test to show their Covid-19 status to immigration officers at their destination country.

The airport said: “Air travel, whether business journeys or urgent trips … will thus become safer and easier.”

Passengers on public transport in Rome on the first day of easing the national lockdown. EPA

A safety guard checks passengers with thermo scanner as they arrive at the Cadorna railway station, in Milan. AP

A woman exercises after parks reopen in Italy. Reuters

On the Milan metro, face masks and social distancing. AP

A customer pays for takeaway service at the Sciascia Caffe in Rome. AFP

Public transport has social distancing signs. AP

A woman rides a rental bicycle across the Parco Sempione park in Milan. AFP

A customer picks up Italian breakfast at a bar in Rome. EPA

Police check on a man at the Cadorna railway station in Milan.AP

In Germany, besides primary and secondary schools, barber shops and other salons will also reopen after a two-month shutdown.

Places of worship and museums can also again operate from Monday while maintaining social distancing guidelines and other anti-coronavirus orders such as wearing face masks.

Some German states are moving faster than government recommendations, and from Monday people in Saxony-Anhalt will be allowed to meet in groups of up to five. The national advice is to meet only one person from outside the household.