Venice starts returning to normal as lockdown rules are relaxed

Only a few businesses, such as bookshops and children's clothing stores, have been allowed to reopen.

Residents in Venice have been pictured shopping outside after Italian authorities allowed some businesses to reopen amid the coronavirus lockdown.

Only a few businesses have been allowed to reopen, such as bookshops, stationary stores and places selling children’s clothes. They must also continue to comply with strict government guidelines, such as ensuring customers can socially distance inside the shop and sanitising the premises twice a day.

Customers are also expected to wear protective gloves and face masks when outside. A ban on exercising more than 200 metres away from home has also been lifted.

The restrictions have not been loosed across all of Italy, with the country’s worst-hit areas, such as Emilia-Romagna, still in lockdown. Lombardy, which saw a further 280 deaths on Monday, has allowed children’s clothing shops to open but not bookshops.

At least 20,500 people have died from coronavirus in Italy, making it one of the worst-hit countries in Europe during the pandemic. Nearly 160,000 coronavirus cases been confirmed in the nation.

In Venice, residents were spotted walking over bridges in the city wearing gloves and face masks, and buying books and newspapers from stalls by the water. The area was previously left deserted by the pandemic, which had a positive impact on its canals.

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The water appeared to be clearer within a matter of weeks, with dolphins seen paying visits. A spokesperson for the Venice mayoral office said: ‘The water now looks clearer because there is less traffic on the canals, allowing the sediment to stay at the bottom.’

However some Italians remain concerned that the restrictions are being relaxed too early. Sergio Ricci, 46, who works in a bookstore, stated that he and other businesses had not been given enough time to prepare to reopen.

He said: ‘The first reaction I had when I understood we were going to reopen the store was uncertainty. Economically it is a relief, but honestly I am worried because the main risk is that the managing costs of reopening will exceed the earnings.’

Mr Ricci said he believes the health risks could be ‘too high’ for things to start returning to normal in large Italian cities, like Rome.

Wider government restrictions will stay in place across Italy until May 3, the government confirmed last week. The country’s culture minister noted that bookshops had been allowed to reopen as they are classed as an ‘an essential good’ for people in lockdown.

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