Italy ponders reopening as virus appears to wane

SOAVE, Italy — With warmer weather beckoning, Italians are straining against a lockdown to halt the coronavirus that is just now showing signs of ebbing at the end of five weeks of mass isolation.

Italy was the first Western democracy to be hit by the virus, and it had been leading the official global death toll with over 19,000 victims. Now it is likely to set an example of how to lift restrictions that have imposed the harshest peacetime limits on personal freedom and shut down all nonessential industry.

Schools are closed, and children are not permitted to play in parks. Walks outdoors are limited to a distance of less than a quarter-mile, and any excursion not strictly a matter of necessity risks fines.

The official line is patience with measures that have shown success in slowing the virus spread until there is a decline in the number of new cases. Still, officials have begun grappling with the question of how to manage social distancing on mass transit, reopen ordinary commerce and relaunch manufacturing without risking another peak.

The so-called Phase II is being described as a cautious reopening, as society continues to live alongside the virus until a vaccine can be developed, perhaps in 12 to 18 months.

“We obviously don’t want to delude ourselves that everything will change,” Premier Giuseppe Conte told Italians this week.

On Friday, Conte extended the lockdown through May 3. That includes all nonessential industry, after which, “I hope we can start again with caution and gradually — but restart,” he said.

A technical committee for the government is working to expand testing for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus to get a better picture of how widespread it is before measures can be eased.