Italy eases virus blockade and gets first toll calculation

ROME – Italians strolled through the park, grabbed cappuccinos to go, and paid their respects to the staggering death toll on Monday when the European epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic cautiously awoke from the continent’s first and longest blockade.

People gather inside Rome’s Villa Pamphili park when it reopened after several weeks of closure, as part of the limited national limitation of some blockade restrictions, on Monday May 4, 2020. Italy began to stir again on Monday after a two-month closure of coronavirus, at 4.4 million. Italians able to return to work and movement restrictions eased in the first European country to close in an attempt to stop COVID-19 infections. (AP Photo / Alessandra Tarantino)

Greece, Portugal and Belgium also eased virus restrictions, while Britain was on the verge of overtaking Italy as the country with the highest number of COVID-19 deaths in Europe.

Officially, 4.4 million Italians were allowed to return to work on construction sites, factories and manufacturing jobs that were considered to be of lower risk of contagion. Traffic sped up in city centers, commuter and long-distance trains sold out and more people ventured after restrictions on movement eased for the first time since Italy closed on March 11.

“We are being careful, trying not to do too much, but at least we are finally outside and breathing fresh air,” said Daniele Bianchi as she strolled through Rome’s Villa Borghese park.

Across the Tiber, in Villa Sciarra, Valerio Pileri stood by the stroller while his two-and-a-half-year-old grandson ran across the grass.

“He was going round and round on the terrace with his bike, but it’s not the same as the villa,” said Pileri.

Protective masks were ubiquitous, even Swiss guards began wearing them in the Vatican, and were required on public transportation and inside cafes, restaurants, and ice cream parlors that opened for takeaway service.

But not all the companies that were able to reopen did so, a sign that some owners decided it was not worth serving a handful of customers or that they had failed to implement new standards of distancing and social hygiene.

And any new sense of freedom was clouded by the first comprehensive calculation of how large the cost of COVID-19 was.

Italy’s national statistics agency reported Monday that 49% more people died in March than the average in the past five years, with some 25,354 excess deaths recorded between February 20 and March 31, the heyday of the outbreak of Italy.

Given that only 13,700 of those deaths were confirmed to be positive for the virus, Italy’s official COVID-19 figure of 29,000 is likely to drop by more than 10,000. The other deaths likely involved infected people who were never examined or people who died as an indirect result of the pandemic because the hospital system collapsed in the north, ISTAT said.

For the first time in two months, Italians were able to honor some of the dead with funerals, although attendance was limited to 15 people. Cemeteries were also reopened for visits, mourners were told to keep their distance from each other.

“I feel a bit out of my comfort zone, but my daughter is here, and as soon as the cemetery opened, I came,” said Paola Lazzaro while visiting her daughter’s grave in the Flaminio cemetery in Rome.

In Milan, passengers on sold-out southbound trains had their temperatures taken before boarding, and traveler Gabriella Fusca said she felt safe making the trip to Rome.

“All distances were respected. They were all wearing face masks, ”he said.

Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala praised the morning commuters, saying that access to the metro had to be blocked only a few times and that some buses had to skip stops because they were too full to take on new passengers.

“Milanesi behaved in a very diligent manner,” he said.

Luxury automaker Ferrari relaunched production on Monday, after buying 800 blood tests for Ferrari employees and their families to use on a voluntary basis. The company is also developing its own contact tracking system, so workers can determine if they’ve been in contact with someone who tested positive.

Italy also plans to test 150,000 with a pilot antibody test and launch a mobile contact-tracking app, but both initiatives are behind schedule and the start of the country’s economic restart was missed.

In Greece, after 42 days of confinement, people were no longer required to send an SMS or carry written permission to justify why they were outdoors. Greece is credited with maintaining its number of deaths and critical illnesses with its early closure, registering only 144 victims and 37 in intensive care.

Some businesses were also allowed to reopen, and hairdressers were among the most popular.

Konstantina Harisiadi installed plexiglass barriers at reception and nail stations and a sign saying “Silence is security” to discourage chat and limit the possibility of virus transmission.

“Things are different. There is no spontaneity: we cannot greet each other, talk, laugh. We are entering a new era,” he said.

The sentiment was shared in Italy.

“The future is a big question mark,” said Gianni Berra as she served her first cappuccinos of the day to customers who only brought take-out food in Rome. “The normal cozy bar atmosphere will no longer be there.”

GSG

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