Italy to ease lockdown from May 4

By Football Italia staff

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte confirmed Italy will ease lockdown measures from May 4, but schools won’t open until September and we’re unlikely to see crowds in stadiums until January 2021.

They were the first European country to go into lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the first cases springing up on February 20, and over 26,000 people have now died.

A partial lockdown was ordered in several northern regions affected, then extended to the entire country from March 10.

The latest Government decree will expire on May 4 and that is the date when measures will be eased, including around sport and training.

“We are working to allow much of the country’s business, from manufacture to construction, to reopen from May 4,” PM Conte told La Repubblica newspaper.

“We cannot extend the lockdown any more, as we’d risk crushing the socio-economic fabric of the country. We’ll announce the details of the new plan at the latest from the start of next week.

“There will be a revision of the rules, but that does not mean a total abandonment of them. We are not yet in a condition to allow full freedom of movement, but are studying now to ease the current more rigid restrictions.”

Conte confirmed schools will not open up again until September, partly because “Italy has among the oldest average age” of teachers in Europe, so working parents will be given time off and money to help pay for baby-sitting.

Bars and restaurants will not open from May 4, while it’s reported we won’t see crowds in stadiums until January 2021.

Individual training sessions should be open from May 4, but there are growing suggestions groups won’t be allowed until May 18, which could further delay the resumption of the Serie A season.

Italy are introducing a fixed price for facemasks, attempting to prevent price-gouging.

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