THE GOOD NEWS SIGNS OF RESTRICTIONS EASING AS ITALY AND SPAIN REPORT LOW DEATHS OVER WEEKEND

Every day in this column, The Daily Telegraph will seek out and report snippets of comfort as the world fights coronavirus

♦ Italy reported 153 deaths in a 24-hour period on Saturday – the lowest since the early days of its lockdown. It will reopen restaurants this week and allow cross-border travel in June.

♦ Spain recorded its lowest 24-hour death toll in two months yesterday.

The government said that 87 people had died, the first drop under 100 since lockdown began.

♦ Professor Karol Sikora, a former World Health Organisation director, has claimed there is a “real chance” that the virus will “burn out”.

♦ Scientists from the University of Hong Kong have found that face masks do reduce transmission of coronavirus – albeit among hamsters. The team of experts established that face masks reduced noncontact transmission by over 60 per cent.

♦ In Thailand, shopping centres reopened for the first time in more than a month. Hundreds of masked customers had to pass through disinfection stations and temperature checks before they could do their shopping.

♦ A 101-year-old Second World War veteran in Canada has completed 101 laps of the courtyard of his retirement home to raise $154,705 (£90,592). John Hillman said he was inspired by his “comrade-inarms” Captain Tom Moore and, like his compatriot, also served in Burma and wears the Burma Star.

♦ Church services in Greece recommenced yesterday for the first time in two months.