Italy’s prime minister confirmed in his interview to the local newspaper that some ‘strategic’ businesses will start reopening on May, 4th. However, the schools planned to be opened in September, not earlier.
The Italian manufacturing industry will restart on May 4 as part of plans to ease its COVID-19 lockdown, prime minister Giuseppe Conte said in a newspaper interview on Sunday.
“We are working in these hours to allow the reopening of a good part of businesses from manufacturing to construction for May 4,” Conte told Italian daily La Repubblica.
PM also said that the educational system remains so far in the distance-learning mode, the schools will be reopened in September. According to PM Conte, the economical measures would be presented by the beginning of next week at the latest.
In fact, Italy was the first European country to be hard-hit by the novel pathogen, and the first to impose a lockdown in March. Its path to reopening its economy is being closely watched around the world as other countries where severe outbreaks arrived in the following week contemplate similar moves.
As Conte told journalists, the Italian companies would have to introduce strict health safety measures before getting the green light to restart their technological processes. At the same time, Conte prefers to be a sceptic, saying that some reopening businesses considered “strategic”. Such kind of firms, mainly export-oriented, could reopen next week providing they got the go-ahead from local prefects.
Conte said schools would reopen in September but added studies showed the risk of contagion was very high. Teaching remotely was working well, he added with pleasure.
Despite the lifting some restrictions, all Italian companies will be obliged to introduce strict health safety measures before being allowed to open their gates.
Italy was the first European country to be hard-hit by the novel coronavirus, and the first to impose a lockdown in March. As of Sunday morning, the EU country has reported 26,384 deaths due to the novel virus.
