Italians were back on the streets today as the country lifted the longest lockdown in Europe and entered ‘phase two’ of the coronavirus crisis.
In Venice, where the empty streets and alleyways were an early symbol of the crisis in Europe, St Mark’s Square was full of people again today as local traders gathered in the piazza.
Trains and platforms were busy again in Milan with more than four million people expected to return to work at factories and construction sites, while others can exercise in parks and visit relatives for the first time in weeks.
Italy’s government says the regions are responsible for ensuring social distancing on public transport, but some pictures suggested it was not being strictly enforced.
Elsewhere, hundreds of thousands of children will return to school in Germany today where older children are being given priority as they prepare for summer exams.
Meanwhile Portugal has lifted its state of emergency and is allowing small shops to re-open today – although with €350 fines for anyone who fails to wear a mask.
Spain is also allowing customers to return to some shops such as hair salons, although only by appointment.
ITALY: Venice’s St Mark’s Square was full of people again, including a rally staged by local traders, weeks after empty Venice became one of the early symbols of the coronavirus crisis in Europe
GREECE: Passengers wearing masks walk through a ticket barrier at the Syntagma metro station in central Athens this morning
SPAIN: People receive masks from a Red Cross worker at a metro station in Madrid this morning as the country continues to ease the lockdown
AUSTRIA: Pupils walk up the steps of the Akademisches Gymnasium high school in Vienna this morning as some pupils return to their classrooms after more than a month away from school
PORTUGAL: People wearing protective masks board a bus at Cais do Sodre station in Lisbon this morning, as Portugal begins to ease its own coronavirus lockdown
Italy’s move into ‘phase two’ today follows only 174 deaths on Sunday, the lowest figure since the lockdown went into effect on March 10, although that came after a spike of 474 deaths on Saturday.
The number of cases was 1,389, also the lowest since March 10, taking the total from 209,328 to 210,717.
Italy’s R rate – the number of people that each person infects – has fallen below 1, a threshold which is widely seen as crucial to bringing the epidemic under control.
Health officials say the figure was as high as 3 at the height of the crisis in Lombardy, which became one of the early virus hotspots in February and March.
Prime minister Giuseppe Conte has announced a staggered re-opening from today, although some regions are moving at different speeds.
The nationwide rules for ‘phase two’ say that bars and restaurants can resume takeaway services while building sites and factories are allowed to resume production from today.
People are allowed to visit their relatives, although not their friends, and only within the region where they live.
Masks are compulsory on public transport, with regional governments put in charge of ensuring social distancing – and some of them are requiring gloves.
Parks have re-opened for jogging and exercise, although not playgrounds, and people are required to observe the 3ft ‘spacing’ guidelines. Meanwhile, gatherings of 15 people are now permitted for funerals.
Italian health minister Roberto Speranza urged Italians to remain prudent in phase two.
‘This game is not won by decree and individual responsibility is fundamental for this second phase,’ he said, echoing Sweden’s language.
‘That is, a much more difficult period comes, because there will be many more people around and therefore respecting the rules becomes even more decisive, but I think the country will live up to it.’
People gather in front of St Mark’s Basilica in the centre of Venice today, as Italy moves into ‘phase two’ of the lockdown where Italians are allowed to leave their homes for less urgent reasons
March 11: The same scene two months ago, when an empty Venice was one of the most striking emblems of the crisis in northern Italy before it engulfed the rest of Europe
People pour out of a train at Cadorna station in Milan today, with regional authorities meant to be enforcing social distancing
People wearing masks sit on an underground train in Milan, with a 3ft safety distance marked out on the carriage floor
People jog in the Villa Doria Pamphili park in Rome this morning, after parks were re-opened – with the government ordering Italians to maintain adequate ‘spacing’
People wearing masks walk on the platform of the Cadorna railway station in Milan today as Italy begins a staggered re-opening after two months of lockdown
Builders work at a construction site in Catania in Sicily today – some of the millions of people returning to work in Italy today
People get off a train in Milan this morning – all of them wearing masks – a day after Italy recorded its lowest daily death toll (174) since the lockdown came into force
Italy’s number of new coronavirus cases, shown on this graph, fell to only 1,389 today – the lowest since the lockdown came into force on March 10
Italy’s daily death toll was also at an eight-week low of 174 yesterday, although that followed a spike of 474 deaths reported on Saturday
Some regions have gone further. The Veneto region which includes Venice and the southern Calabria region have been serving food and drink at outdoor bars and restaurants since last week.
The area around Genoa is thinking of allowing small groups of people to go sailing and reopening its beaches. But neighbouring Emilia-Romagna is keeping them closed – even to those who live by the sea.
‘We are feeling a mix of joy and fear,’ 40-year-old Stefano Milano said in Rome.
‘There will be great happiness in being able to go running again carefree, in my son being allowed to have his little cousin over to blow out his birthday candles, to see our parents,’ the father-of-three said.
‘But we are also apprehensive because they are old and my father-in-law has cancer so is high risk’.
A poll by the Piepoli Institute showed 62 per cent of Italians think they will need psychological support with coming to grips with the post-lockdown world.
‘The night of the virus continues,’ sociologist Ilvo Diamanti wrote in La Repubblica daily. ‘And you can hardly see the light on the horizon. If anything, we’re getting used to moving in the dark.’
Almost everything except for pharmacies and grocery stores was shut across Italy by March 12 under the first nationwide lockdown in Europe.
Conte’s final roll of the dice involved closing all non-essential factories on March 22. Italy’s highest single toll – 919 in a day – was reported five days later.
Italy’s economy – the eurozone’s third-largest last year – is expected to shrink more than in any year since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Half of the workforce is receiving state support and the same number told a top pollster that they were afraid of becoming unemployed.
People stand in a circle in a park in Rome today after the Italian government allowed parks to re-open subject to social distancing being maintained
A funeral takes place in Catania today with mourners wearing masks by the side of the hearse – with up to 15 people now allowed to gather to bury the dead
A thermal camera (top left) scans the body temperature of commuters arriving from regional trains at a station in Milan this morning
People in Italy wear masks on a station platform in Milan today as the country starts to lift a nationwide lockdown which came into effect on March 10
In Portugal, businesses including hair salons and car dealers can resume their operations today after a six-week ban.
The wearing of face masks or visors is compulsory in stores and on public transport under the government’s plan unveiled last week.
Portugal declared a state of emergency on March 19 and has so far recorded more than 25,000 virus cases, including over a thousand deaths.
That was lifted on Sunday but people were still encouraged to stay home as the country takes tentative steps towards normal life.
Shops cannot open before 10am and must ensure social distancing measures. Hairdressers and beauty salons can receive customers by appointment only.
Anyone found not wearing a mask or visor on public transport could be fined up to 350 euros (£310).
Restrictions on movement will be eased in the coming weeks, the government said on Thursday.
Senior schools will reopen on May 18, but long-distance learning will remain the norm for primary and middle schools through to the end of the year.
Museums, bars, restaurants and art galleries will also open their doors from May 18, two weeks from today.
Those who can will be expected to work from home throughout May and groups of more than 10 people are banned.
Football league action is slated to resume on the final weekend of the month.
In Spain, businesses that operate by appointment, such as hairdressers and beauty salons, will resume limited services from today.
In the next stage, outdoor areas of bars and restaurants can open at 50 per cent occupancy, while groups of up to 10 people will be allowed in public places and in homes.
People walk on a street in L’Hospitalet in Spain after they were allowed out to exercise
A man gets a haircut in Alcala de Henares near Madrid today, with hair salons one of the businesses which have been allowed to re-open in Spain today
A metro passenger receives a mask from a Red Cross worker at Atocha station in Madrid today
Germany is continuing to re-open schools today, initially for pupils who are approaching summer exams.
Unlike in some countries such as Denmark and France which are re-opening primary schools first, Germany is keeping the youngest children at home for now, although some older elementary school pupils are back.
German media estimates that hundreds of thousands of children will be back today, with only a minority of schools requiring masks.
However, social distancing measures are being kept in place to prevent a renewed spread of the disease.
Germany has a particularly keen eye on the R0 rate, which is currently estimated at 0.78 by health officials.
Angela Merkel has explained how even a small increase above 1 would leave Germany’s health system overburdened by virus cases.
Germany has seen its numbers of new cases and deaths drop to their lowest in early March since recent days, possibly deflated by a long weekend.
Monday morning’s figures showed only 679 new cases and 43 new deaths in the last 24 hours. The number of infections is the smallest since March 11.
In Austria, pupils in their final year are returning to high schools today, with other schools set to re-open ‘step by step’ from May 15.
Most classes will be split into two groups, with one attending school Monday to Wednesday and the other Thursday to Friday, then swapping the following week, education minister Heinz Fassmann said.
Pupils at a school in Berlin sit several seats apart at a classroom in Berlin today on the first day of classes since March
In Austria, students Lea Karner (left) and Dorian Di Giorgio (right) were locking up their bikes as they arrived at school in Vienna this morning, as some schools re-opened after more than a month away
Greece is also lifting restrictions today, with people allowed to leave their homes but not the wider regions where they live.
Some retail stores, including bookshops and hair salons, are re-opening today and others later in the month. Schools will open gradually, starting on May 11.
Greece relies heavily on tourism but has seen large-scale booking cancellations because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Its borders remain closed to citizens of non-EU nations including the United States and Britain as well as of Spain and Italy as part of the lockdown measures.
The government made no mention on Tuesday of when those restrictions would be lifted.
Greece also moved hundreds of migrants from a camp on the island of Lesbos to mainland facilities on Sunday as part of efforts to ease overcrowding.
The European Union has asked Greece to move migrants most at risk of contracting the coronavirus from the camps on its Mediterranean islands.
Athens had opposed moving them all to the mainland, citing the absence of cases in the camps while the coronavirus was spreading elsewhere in the country.
At least 110,000 people are living in migrant facilities – 40,000 of them in overcrowded camps on five islands.