Italy's shops, restaurants set to reopen as lockdown eases further

People wear face masks in Milan, Italy, February 26, 2020. /Xinhua

Italy will allow shops, restaurants and salon to resume operations starting Monday as the government continues its gradual reopening of the country following weeks of lockdown.

Businesses in the country are slowly getting permission to reopen as long as they can enforce sanitary protocols and social distancing.

Italy is one of the worst affected countries globally by the COVID-19 pandemic, having registered more than 225,000 infections and nearly 32,000 deaths, according to the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins university.

At Milan’s upscale Rinascente department store, guards will keep count through an app of how many people are in the store at any one time. Clothes tried on in changing rooms will be quarantined for 24 hours and shop assistants will spill perfumes on paper tissues rather than having customers handle testers. Access to restaurants will be strictly limited, with only family members allowed to sit close to each other.

Rinascente's Chief Executive Pierluigi Cocchini said it was difficult to predict what appetite there would be to shop after weeks of isolation. The store is reopening with markdowns of up to 60% as, like most retailers, it needs to clear unsold stocks.

"The hope is to take a step towards normality. It won't be business as usual given all the protocols, but this is the new normal for now and we have to accept it," Reuters quotes him to say.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte noted that the resumption of businesses would not lead to an instant recovery of the country's economy.

"I know that for several sectors of the economy, reopening does not mean recovery," Conte said late on Saturday as he announced the lifting of the restrictions.

Source(s): Reuters