Germany and Italy begin to ease coronavirus lockdown rules, but move warily

A host of European countries are starting to relax restrictions and lift lockdowns amid the coronavirus pandemic. Two of the worst-hit countries—Germany and Italy, who have a total of 299,000 and more cases combined, have also announced to reopen small shops and schools from May.

German chancellor Angela Merkel held meetings with cabinet ministers and announced the easing of social restriction measures that Germany had adopted since March 20.

Shops sized 800 square meters and less will be allowed to reopen from next week. However, stringent social distancing rules will continue to remain in place.

A month-long lockdown in Germany has forced children to remain indoors and miss their classes. After a long discussion with governors of all 16 states, Merkel also announced that schools are scheduled to reopen on May 3. But, only as per specific guidelines laid out by the German government.

The Merkel government has also managed to pacify sceptics and several medical Experts on deciding to relax restrictive measures. Merkel has mandated.

That all religious gatherings, cafes, hotels, restaurants, bars, music venues and other big malls are banned until August 31. Health authorities have also assured to Increase medical staffing to test close to 650,000 people in a week in Germany.

The worst affected European country--Italy which surpassed a milestone of 20,000 Deaths due to coronavirus has decided to resurrect itself and revive its economy.

Just a few days after a sombre Easter day, Italy has finally eased restrictions and allowed some small shops to reopen across the country.

With the COVID-19 curve flattening each day, experts and officials from the Italian Government believe that reopening small shops will kick-start the economy immediately. But, reopened shops selling books, stationery and essentials are still mandated to follow safety protocols and social distancing guidelines as ordered by the government.

Despite the Italian government taking a strong decision to reopen shops, some Provinces in Italy exercised their partial autonomy power and continued to keep the Shops closed. Claims of COVID-19 curve flattening was also not well received among the local Italians as cases of infection went above 165,000 and death toll surpassed 21,000. Most Italians also expressed fear of second wave infections as the lockdown was being eased across the country.