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ECONOMY

Italy speeds up reopening with cafes and restaurants allowed to open on May 18th

Regional governments will be allowed to reopen bars, restaurants, hairdressers, barbers and beauty parlours to open from Monday, May 18th after the national government gave local authorities the go-ahead on Monday morning.

Published: 12 May 2020 09:08 CEST
Italy speeds up reopening with cafes and restaurants allowed to open on May 18th
Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFP

The government agreed to demands from regions for an acceleration of phase two of Ithe lockdown at a meeting of regional leaders, Italian media reports.

These businesses were not set to get the green light to open until at least June 1st under the previous plan.

But now they'll be allowed to open on Monday, when Italy's other shops are set to reopen.

“This is the start of the phase of regional responsibilty,” said Francesco Boccia. , the minister for autonomy and regional affairs.

The governors of ten regions – Abruzzo, Calabria, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Liguria, Lombardy, Molise, Piedmont, Sardinia, Umbria and Veneto, as well as the president of Trentino province – had warned they would “act autonomously” if Rome failed to confirm that they can reopen shops, restaurants, salons and beaches as soon the current decree expires on May 17th.

The government has also faced pressure from business groups and protests by business owners in squares and streets around the country.

READ ALSO: Italy considers reopening shops earlier following protests

 

There's no plan yet to reopen regional borders and allow people to travel freely around Italy; this is reportedly still under discussion by national and regional authorities.

Restaurants and bars are currently allowed to open for takeaway orders, and in many regions they've been allowed to remain open for home delivery throughout lockdown.

And in some parts of Italy, you can already go to the hairdresser, as lockdown rules already vary widely between regions.

Each of Italy's 20 regions has its own government, and each of those has the power to adapt national lockdown rules within their own territory.

READ ALSO: 

During phase one of Italy's coronavirus lockdown, regional governors mostly used those powers to tighten restrictions – for example by upping the maximum fine for rule-breaking, or setting stricter limits on exercise.
 
But now, some local governments are opting to relax the rules faster than the central government has advised, even though ministers in Rome have warned them against it.
 
The government can intervene and enforce tougher restrictions if there's an increase in contagion following the restriction of the rules. Regional governors are required to communicate daily with the Health Ministry.

It remains too early for the official data to confirm whether the infection rate continued to drop following the easing of some restrictions on May 4.

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HEALTH

Covid-19 still causing 1,000 deaths a week in Europe, WHO warns

The World Health Organization's European office warned on Tuesday the risk of Covid-19 has not gone away, saying it was still responsible for nearly 1,000 deaths a week in the region. And the real figure may be much higher.

Published: 27 June 2023 13:27 CEST
Covid-19 still causing 1,000 deaths a week in Europe, WHO warns

The global health body on May 5 announced that the Covid-19 pandemic was no longer deemed a “global health emergency.”

“Whilst it may not be a global public health emergency, however, Covid-19 has not gone away,” WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge told reporters.

The WHO’s European region comprises 53 countries, including several in central Asia.

“Close to 1,000 new Covid-19 deaths continue to occur across the region every week, and this is an underestimate due to a drop in countries regularly reporting Covid-19 deaths to WHO,” Kluge added, and urged authorities to ensure vaccination coverage of at least 70 percent for vulnerable groups.

Kluge also said estimates showed that one in 30, or some 36 million people, in the region had experienced so called “long Covid” in the last three years, which “remains a complex condition we still know very little about.”

“Unless we develop comprehensive diagnostics and treatment for long Covid, we will never truly recover from the pandemic,” Kluge said, encouraging more research in the area which he called an under-recognised condition.

Most countries in Europe have dropped all Covid safety restrictions but some face mask rules remain in place in certain countries in places like hospitals.

Although Spain announced this week that face masks will no longer be required in certain healthcare settings, including hospitals and pharmacies, with a couple of exceptions.

Sweden will from July 1st remove some of its remaining Covid recommendations for the public, including advice to stay home and avoid close contact with others if you’re ill or have Covid symptoms.

The health body also urged vigilance in the face of a resurgence of mpox, having recorded 22 new cases across the region in May, and the health impact of heat waves.

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