Masked and apart, world tiptoes out of isolation

LOCKDOWNS

ROME/WASHINGTON • Italy and the United States were among a slew of countries tentatively easing coronavirus lockdowns on Monday to revive economies as global deaths neared a quarter of a million.

Italy, among the world’s hardest-hit countries, allowed about 4.5 million people to return to work after nearly two months at home. Construction work can resume and relatives can reunite.

“I woke up at 5:30 a.m., I was so excited,” said Maria Antonietta Galluzzo, a grandmother taking her three-year-old grandson for a walk in Rome’s Villa Borghese park, the first time they had seen each other in eight weeks.

In the U.S., which has the world’s highest total of infections and deaths, at almost 1.2 million and 68,000 respectively, Ohio and other states were easing more curbs on businesses.

In New York, the hardest-hit U.S. state, Gov. Andrew Cuomo outlined a phased reopening of business, starting with industries such as construction, and the least affected regions.

Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Finland, Nigeria, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Israel and Lebanon were also among countries variously reopening factories, construction sites, parks, hairdressers and libraries.

The daily increase in cases worldwide has been 2 to 3 per cent over the past week, down from around 13 per cent in midMarch.

Confirmed cases — certain to exclude many mild cases — have risen to around 3.52 million, according to a Reuters tally.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said his country, where the novel coronavirus has killed almost 29,000 people and over a thousand new cases are reported daily, was still in the “full throes of the pandemic.”

Italy’s statistics bureau said it could be assumed that a further 11,600 deaths were people who had died of COVID-19 without being tested, or of other causes that a stressed health service had been unable to treat them for.

Friends are still barred from meeting up, most shops must stay shut until May 18, and schools, cinemas and theatres remain closed.

Hairdressers, ironmongers and other shops tentatively opened as Spain, too, began a phased reopening with masks being made mandatory for anyone using public transit.

Similar steps were taken from Portugal and Belgium to India and Israel.

Meanwhile, the EU agency for disease control said Britain, yet to ease its lockdown, was one of five European countries yet to reach the peak of its outbreak.

MANUEL SILVESTRI / REUTERS Workers resume their activities in Venice on Monday as Italy begins to slightly relax restrictions.