HALF OF COUNTRY REOPENS AS RESTRICTIONS LOOSEN

SEVILLE Waiters in face masks served coffees and “bocadillo” sandwiches at café terraces in Seville Monday as parts of Spain eased restrictions amid a slowing epidemic that saw new fatalities drop to a near two-month low.

“I’m very happy, I really wanted to work. We’ve been shut for two months now,” said Marta Contreras, a waitress in Seville.

About half of Spain’s 47 million people progressed to the so-called Phase 1 of a four-step plan to relax one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns on Monday.

Health ministry data showed the daily death toll dropping to 123 on Monday from Sunday’s 143, bringing the total number of coronavirus fatalities to 26,744. The daily number, a seven weeklow, has come down from a record of 950 in early April.

Church services resumed with limited capacity and chairs, rather than pews, were spaced out inside for the faithful to preserve a two metre distance. Under the lockdown relaxation, up to 10 people can gather together and people are allowed to move freely around their province.

But Madrid, Barcelona and other cities including Valencia, Malaga and Granada will remain in Phase 0.

EMILIO MORENATTI/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Customers sit and drink on a terrace bar in Tarragona, Spain, on Monday, as about half of the hard-hit nation of 47 million people transitions to a softer version of the country’s rules of strict confinement.