Europe
2020.05.04 01:54 GMT+8

Italy set to ease pandemic lockdown restrictions

Updated 2020.05.04 02:00 GMT+8
Hermione Kitson in Pescara

After two months of national lockdown, Italy will finally start easing restrictions tomorrow.

During stage 2 of the country's coronavirus exit plan, parks will reopen and residents will be able to leave their homes. Relatives can also reunite in small groups.

Silvia Poletto says she can't wait to take her three children to their grandmother's house in the countryside, after being confined to their small apartment in Pescara. "It will be amazing because they will have open air and their grandmother all at once, I'm really emotional about that – I can't wait for it."

Her husband Maurizio admits it's a big step after two months inside. "Compared to the past it's nothing but now it's a lot – I think we will appreciate a lot more the freedom we will have."

Factories and building sites, too, will reopen. They have to adhere to work-safe measures, such as temperature checks, masks, gloves and social distancing.

Nicola Rapino owns a construction company based in Pescara. He fears that the first few weeks of restart will be difficult to navigate, logistically and financially "we will feel this lockdown in the weeks ahead because we haven't worked, and the costs have remained."

Another sector that will restart is the automotive industry, but car dealerships are apprehensive there won't be any customers.

Francesco Barbuscia is the owner of a dealership that has been in his family for 100 years. He fears that many in the business will have no choice but to close.

"In 2008 the market dropped down in the financial crisis by 23 percent and the number of dealerships dropped from 3,000 to 1,400 – less than half survived that crisis. Now that we're looking at figures of minus 30 percent, so many of us will not survive." He added that "there will be many families without work."

It's a sentiment shared by those businesses who have to wait another month to open – such as hairdressers, beauticians and restaurants.

But the government claims that a slow and staged reopening is the only way Italy can move forward and stave off a second wave of infection.

Check out The Pandemic Playbook, CGTN Europe's major investigation into the lessons learnt from COVID-19.

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