Italy is “easing most restrictions, while maintaining rigorous safety measures for all social and commercial activities. We continue to strengthen our healthcare infrastructure, increasing intensive care units and hiring doctors and healthcare professionals. We have expanded tests and developed a national monitoring plan in synergy with our local authorities. We are entering ‘Phase two’ with cautious optimism and a sense of responsibility, “said Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte at the closing session of the World Health Assembly. “Italy was one of the first and most affected countries by this pandemic. In March, we had to take drastic measures to contain the spread of the virus. After two months, the epidemiological data are encouraging: they confirm that our collective efforts and sacrifices have paid off, “said Prime Minister Conte.
On the second day of the post lockdown restart, the cities come to life again, traffic returns and there are more people on public transport. Commercial businesses, from clothing to shoe stores, from hairdressers to beauty salons, but also restaurants, bistros, churches, all strive to prepare the sanitation of the premises and to distribute sanitizing gels, masks and gloves. But the difficulties remain in finding easily the material required by current regulations to deal with the epidemic.
Confcommercio: “Over 90% of clothing stores have reopened safely: underwear, shirts and shoes are among the most popular products. Catering resumes oxygen but the start is slow: 70% of bars and restaurants have all opened well equipped with masks and disinfectant gels, but with reduced staff: in fact 40% of the employees stayed at home, equal to about 400,000 units. There are many owners who will use the dividers inside the restaurant especially in the cashier area, almost none on the tables. In the country, the percentage of reopened markets is around 50% – 60% of the total. Confcommercio reports it. In Rome all covered and open-market markets are open. The periodic markets, unlike the rest of the region, are still closed as in Piedmont, Sicily and part of Lombardy, including Milan. In Campania only the sale of food products is allowed. In the rest of the country, the openings are leopard spots
The governor of Veneto, Luca Zaia warns: “We have arrived, but I believe everyone, dozens of photos and videos of the centers of our cities with nightlife in the open air. I have nothing against the party, but a ban on gatherings and use the mask are the sine qua non condition, the life saver for the protection of citizens “. Zaia said, commenting on the first assemblies with spritz recorded last night. “In 10 days – he added – I see them the infections: if they increase we will close bars, restaurants, beaches, and we will go back to closing ourselves in the house with silicone“.
A drop in consumption of almost 80% was recorded in restaurants, pizzerias, trattorias and farmhouses due to the lack of reopening, but also due to the reduced influx of customers which caused a drastic cut in food supplies compared to the norm. This is what emerges from an estimate by Coldiretti on the beginning of Phase 2 with the possibility for Italians to return to eat outside the home. In many cases the decision not to reopen but also the drop in presences for the closure of offices with smart working and the total absence of Italian and foreign tourists weighs on the drop in food and drink orders. On the other hand, the constraint of respecting distances with the reduction of available seats is less impactful in this phase. A blow to the economy, given that the expenditure for food ‘away from home’ was 35% of total food consumption for a value of 84 billion euros. The difficulties of catering, Coldiretti recalls, have an avalanche effect on the agri-food sector with the lack of purchase of food and drinks in industries and farms.
“I believe that bars and restaurants should certainly be managed with extreme care, because they are one of the places where you have to make sure that the rules are respected in the most rigorous way possible: if you behave well, you can go ahead with openings, otherwise you risk creating some mess “. It is the warning of the President of the Lombardy Region Attilio Fontana, about the reopening of the restaurant business. “In some Regions it is said that the distancing between members of the same family is not mandatory, but we wanted to leave this rule to avoid excuses: the distancing inside the restaurants is fundamental and we expect it to be respected by all”, Fontana said
Thus we enter the heart of ‘Phase 2’. From June 15th off to the summer camps. IS Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio wants to bring tourists back to Italy. In an EU summit dedicated to tourism, he ensures that ‘from June 3 Italy will start all over again. We can move between regions and we are ready to welcome European citizens who want to spend their holidays in Italy. Our facilities are ready. ‘ But no “black list” among European countries. Berlin’s response is cold: “We must speak”. Full agreement in saying no to “bilateral agreements” between EU countries.
In the meantime, the goldsmiths and watchmakers of the CGIA invite their customers, with a special sign, to lower the mask and look at the camera with their faces uncovered. This is for safety reasons, in order to be able to recognize the face of customers. A very important issue for goldsmiths and watchmakers who are often at risk of theft and robbery. “We have reopened in total safety and properly equipped – notes Claudio Dozzo, president of the Category of Goldsmiths Artisans – We fear, however, a worsening of theft episodes with dexterity and robberies, also thanks to the fact that people have an obligation to use masks. This is why we send an invitation to all our customers with a special sign: let yourself be recognized safely. “The mask remains of course a legal obligation and must always be worn for the safety of all, however it allows the bad guys (unfortunately they were not missing in recent years also in Mestre episodes of theft with dexterity) of further misrepresentation. Maybe even resorting to the use of glasses, caps, wigs and anything else that allows you to hide and partially misrepresent your appearance. “Our activities – concludes Dozzo – they cannot operate with the doors of the shops open, unfortunately we cannot do otherwise “.
The Boboli Gardens in Florence reopens Thursday, May 21, after more than ten weeks of closure for the coronavirus emergency which will be accessible both from the entrance of Palazzo Pitti and through the Annalena gate every day of the week (from 8.45 to 18.15). In a note, the Uffizi Galleries point out that all national and regional regulations apply to counteract the spread of the coronavirus inside the Garden: people with temperatures over 37.5 degrees are forbidden, use is mandatory of the mask, it is necessary to keep the interpersonal distance of at least 1.80 m, gatherings are prohibited, groups cannot exceed the number of ten people and tour guides must always use a microphone and earphones. The Grotta Grande and the Porcelain Museum will remain closed.
Playrooms and playgrounds risk not recovering after the Coronavirus emergency and on an estimate of over 2,500 realities that move a workforce of 20 thousand people, 50% are at risk of closure. The national group ‘Playgrounds and Game Stores Italy’, which started from Lombardy with about eighty members, now brings together 620 activities across the peninsula, says it. “Yet they could be exploited – they argue – precisely to increase the offer of services to families who, during the summer, will have to deal with the restrictions on summer camps, while the parents will start working again”. To raise awareness of the sector’s difficulties, they sent letters first to the governor of Lombardy Fontana, then to Prime Minister Conte and Minister Bonetti.
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