Italy will lighten the edges of the coronavirus in many areas from April 26, the government said on Friday, warning that caution was needed to avoid reversals in the reopening of many prolonged protection activities.
For most of this year, in Italy, which has the seventh highest death toll in the world, there are still hundreds of fatalities, restrictions have been imposed on companies and movement.
The current restrictions were due to expire in early May and no decision had been made on how to replace them.
Prime Minister Mario Draghi set a broad timetable for the reopening following pressure from parties in his national unity administration, particularly the right-wing league.
“The government is taking a reasonable risk based on improving data, though not dramatically,” Draghi told a news conference.
Last month, with cases and hospitalizations on the rise, Italy stopped the four-tier color-coded system it uses to gauge restrictions in its 20 regions and applied the harshest red or orange zones across the country.
From April 26, the most lenient white and yellow areas will be restored when infection levels are low. In these areas, restaurants and bars will be able to cater to external tables and cinemas and theaters will reopen with limited attendance.
“Our idea is to allow outdoor pools from May 15 and restart some gym activities on June 1,” Health Minister Roberto Speranza told reporters.
Currently, three regions are red and 17 are orange, with severe restrictions on business and movement. With the gradual decrease in the number of new cases, many of these are expected to turn yellow when the color zone is restored.
Draghi said it would be crucial for people to strictly abide by the rules of social distancing and wear masks to move forward with reopening.
“This is based on a premise that people and institutions abide by the rules for this reasonable risk to succeed,” he said.
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