Europe is beginning its return to work today as some ‘non-essential’ workers resume their jobs in Spain while Italy takes its first steps towards easing the lockdown.
Police were handing out masks on Spanish metro trains today as factory and construction workers were allowed to resume their activities after a two-week ban, although the wider coronavirus lockdown remains in force.
Italy will allow bookshops, stationery shops and stores selling children’s clothes to re-open tomorrow in the first loosening of Europe’s longest lockdown.
Meanwhile in Denmark, schools and daycare centres will re-open on Wednesday, allowing some parents to return to work.
A police officer hands out a face mask – while also wearing one himself – at a Madrid metro station today as some workers were allowed to resume their jobs in Spain
Passengers keep their distance riding the metro in Madrid as non-essential workers are allowed back to work today
A woman wearing a mask accepts another one from a municipal police officer at a metro station in Madrid this morning
Spain allows non-essential work to resume after two-week ban
Spain is lifting its ban on non-essential work today despite concerns from some regional leaders and trade unions.
The country has been under lockdown on March 14, but the measures were toughened even further on March 30 when all non-essential business was shut down for two weeks.
The ban was even stricter than in Britain, where people can still go to work if they cannot work from home during the lockdown.
Spain’s lockdown remains in force and is likely to be extended, but the government has not extended the business shutdown.
The people returning today include factory and construction workers and people involved in sanitation, security, telecommunications and customs.
The workers and their companies will have to adhere to strict regulations to make sure they don’t get infected by the virus.
Police are handing out face masks at metro and train stations on Monday as some companies re-open after the so-called ‘economic hibernation’ period.
A woman takes a face mask from a police officer already wearing one at a Madrid metro station today as Spain takes its first steps towards lifting the coronavirus lockdown
A worker wearing a protective mask looks at his phone as he boards a bus to go to work in Valladolid in northern Spain this morning
A man takes a face mask from a police officer before boarding a bus to go to work in Valladolid in northern Spain this morning
The returning workers are also being advised not to share equipment, wear gloves and masks, keep 6ft apart and practise social distancing on public transport.
Other businesses including bars, nightclubs, pubs and restaurants are still closed and may remain so for weeks.
Food stores, pharmacies and medical centres, tobacconists, gas stations, pet food and technology shops, internet commerce and laundries have always remained open.
The partial lifting of restrictions comes despite a surge in new deaths yesterday. Another 619 deaths were announced on Sunday, 109 more than on Saturday, putting an end to three days of declining deaths.
It brought the country’s coronavirus death toll to 16,972, the third-highest in the world after the United States and Italy.
The regional leader of Catalonia – the second-worst hit part of Spain after Madrid – had asked for the business shutdown to be extended for two more weeks.
Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez warned that the country was ‘far from victory’ over the epidemic.
‘We are all keen to go back out on the streets… but our desire is even greater to win the war and prevent a relapse,’ he said.
Police officers at a metro station in Madrid give out free protective face masks as lockdown restrictions are eased
Passengers sit at a distance on board a Madrid metro train this morning after some workers were allowed to resume their jobs
A commmuter wearing a face mask walks past another metro passenger carrying a bicycle as some people returned to work in Spain today
This graph shows the daily number of deaths in Spain, which spiked to 619 yesterday after falling for the previous three days
Italy opens bookshops, stationery shops and children’s clothes stores
A handful of shops will open in Italy tomorrow despite the wider lockdown being extended until May 3.
Prime minister Giuseppe Conte says bookshops, stationers and shops selling children’s clothes can re-open from Tuesday after the Easter weekend.
However, factories will remain closed, dashing the hopes of industry chiefs who have warned of economic catastrophe.
There is also some disagreement among regions. The governor of Lombardy says bookshops in his hard-hit region will remain closed, but the leader of Liguria wants some construction sites to re-open.
Italy has been under a nationwide lockdown since March 9, longer than any other European country.
The quarantine measures will continue until at least May 3 after Conte extended them for a second time on Friday.
‘This is a difficult but necessary decision for which I take all political responsibility,’ Conte told a news conference.
Conte said he would continue to assess the daily trend of COVID-19 infections and ‘act accordingly’ if conditions allowed it.
Yesterday’s death toll in Italy was 431, the lowest since March 19, offering fresh hope that the worst may be over in Italy.
The number of new cases has been rising by around 2-3 per cent per day in the last week, compared to a regular 20-25 per cent at the peak of the crisis.
This graph shows the daily number of deaths in Italy, which fell to 431 yesterday – the lowest figure since mid-March
Denmark will re-open schools and daycare centres on Wednesday
Denmark, one of the first European countries to shut down, will re-open day care centres and schools for children in first to fifth grade on Wednesday.
The schools and childcare centres have been shut since March 11 along with cafes, restaurants and gyms, which will remain closed.
A ban on gatherings of more than 10 people will remain in place until at least May 10, while larger gatherings will be banned until August.
‘This will probably be a bit like walking the tightrope. If we stand still along the way we could fall and if we go too fast it can go wrong. Therefore, we must take one cautious step at a time,’ prime minister Mette Frederiksen told a media briefing.
Before the crisis, the country was near to full employment with an unemployment rate of 3.7 per cent, the lowest in over a decade.
But even with emergency economic measures in place, Denmark, like many other countries, is still seeing a spike in unemployment.
Since the introduction of the country’s containment measures in mid-March, twice the usual number of people are registering for unemployment every day, according to the Ministry of Employment.
The Confederation of Danish Industry already estimates that there are about 10,000 more unemployed in the country than at the height of the financial crisis.