Italy enters new deconfinement phase

Italy will Monday enter a new deconfinement phase as it rolls backs remaining coronavirus restrictions, an official source said Friday.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte signed a decree Thursday to begin a third phase that will see amateur contact sports—including team sports—authorised once more from June 25.

Cinemas will re-open from Monday but discos will only be authorised—either indoors or outdoors—from July 14.

The decree confirms obligatory quarantine for visitors to Italy, save for those entering from signatories to the passport-free Schengen zone covering 26 EU member states.

It also strictly limits to 200 the number of people who may visit cinemas or museums at any given time, regardless of venue size.

Social distancing measures will remain in place in closed public spaces and bans on large-scale meetings will remain with smaller "static" gatherings allowed only on condition that distancing is respected.

Italy has suffered one of Europe's worst death tolls with more than 34,000 people succumbing to COVID-19.

The economy, forecast to contract more than eight percent this year, is on its knees.

With the daily death toll having dropped below 100 the country now appears to have the virus under control, including in the worst affected northern region of Lombardy.

Italy began deconfinement in early May and reopened its borders on June 3.

© 2020 AFP