Italian PM Conte to Unveil Country’s Reopening Plan

By Staff, Agencies

Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Tuesday that by the weekend he would reveal the steps the country will take to loosen restrictions, reopen the economy and emerge from the coronavirus crisis.

Italy, which has reported more coronavirus deaths than any other European country, has been under national quarantine since March 9, with some regions imposing lock-downs even earlier.

The quarantine period, which has been extended twice, is due to expire on May 3.

Conte is caught between trying to avoid a fresh spike in infections of the virus - which has killed over 24,000 people in Italy - and avoiding additional damage to the economy.

"I would like to be able to say, let's open everything. Right away," Conte wrote on Facebook. "But such a decision would be irresponsible. It would make the contagion curve rise uncontrollably and would jeopardize all the efforts that we've made until now."

A plan to gradually reopen the country, the so-called 'Phase 2,' would be laid out "before the end of this week," he said.

"We have to reopen on the basis of policy that takes into consideration all the details and cuts across all the data. A serious policy, scientific," Conte wrote.

"A reasonable expectation is that we will apply it from May 4."

In laying out the challenges ahead, Conte cited how, in allowing businesses to reopen, officials needed to consider how workers would get to and from work, in order to avoid congestion which could open the door to new cases of infection.