Italy to start easing coronavirus lockdown on May 4

Italy is expected to start easing its coronavirus lockdown from May 4, though the long-awaited rollback will be cautious and calculated, its Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced on Tuesday.

The European country has been one of the hardest hit by the coronavirus, having more than 24,100 deaths since the pandemic emerged there in February.

Giuseppe Conte outlined a five-point plan for managing the easing measures.

Addressing House of representatives, the Italian prime minister said that the plan will focus on:

• Continued social distancing while using masks and gloves until a vaccine or a therapy is available.
• Reinforcing the healthcare system, and paying great attention to care homes to “avoid another out-of-control explosion of contagion.”
• Creating special hospitals designated to cater exclusively to coronavirus patients.
• Conducting antibody testing in a large study to determine the spread of the pandemic among the population. He said 300,000 serological tests have been requested.
• Contact tracing. Last week the government officially selected a contract tracing app, named Immuni, which is in the testing phase, but the choice to download it will be voluntary, he said.

Looking to control the spread of the virus, the Italian government introduced sweeping curbs in March, ordering citizens to stay at home and shutting schools, businesses and industries nationwide.

“I wish I could say: let’s reopen everything. Immediately. We start tomorrow morning. … But such a decision would be irresponsible,” Conte wrote in a Facebook post.

He promised “a serious, scientific plan” that would include a “rethinking of modes of transport” to enable workers to travel in safety, new business rules and measures to check whether the loosening was leading to an uptick in infections.

“It is reasonable to expect that we will apply it from May 4,” he said, adding that a rushed, disorganized exit strategy would make a mockery of the sacrifices Italians had accepted.