Italy

17 May 2020; AFP: Italy will reopen to European tourists from early June and scrap a 14-day mandatory quarantine period, the government said on Saturday, as it quickened the exit from the coronavirus lockdown.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte also said on Saturday that gyms and cinemas would soon be able to welcome the public again, as the government seeks to restart economic activity while treading cautiously amid the lingering, though waning, coronavirus.

ROME, May 14 (Xinhua) -- A further 262 COVID-19 patients had died in the past 24 hours in Italy, bringing the country's toll to 31,368, out of total infection cases of 223,096, according to fresh figures on Thursday.

The number of recoveries rose to 115,288, an increase of 2,747 compared to Wednesday. Nationwide, the number of active infections fell by 2,017 to 76,440, according to the Civil Protection Department.

VERONA /Italy/, March 14. /TASS/: Il-76 planes of the Russian Aerospace Forces have brought back to Russia more than 70 Russian servicemen who helped to tackle the novel coronavirus outbreak in Italy, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

"Starting from May 8, more than 70 servicemen and 19 pieces of special-purpose military equipment, have been brought from <...> the Verona Villafranca Airport," the ministry said.

A total of 10 Russian planes have already arrived from Verona.

ROME (AP) — Italy’s virus reopening was supposed to be accompanied by a series of measures to limit infections in the one-time epicenter of Europe’s pandemic: the distribution of millions of inexpensive surgical masks to pharmacies nationwide, a pilot project of 150,000 antibody tests and, eventually, the roll-out of a contact-tracing app.

None of these is in place as Italy experiments with its second week of loosening restrictions and looks ahead to Monday’s reopening of shops and, in some regions, bars and restaurants.

ROME, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The Italian government said on Monday it would allow local authorities to decide when to lift the restrictions imposed in March to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, local media reported.

The province of Alto Adige became the first to reopen restaurants, bars and libraries on Monday, the Local Italy reported.

On March 9, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced that the whole of Italy would be placed under lockdown from March 10.

ROME, May 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Silvia Romano, an Italian aid worker kidnapped 18 months ago in East Africa, landed in Rome on Sunday, a day after being freed.

Gunmen seized Romano, who was working for an Italian charity called Africa Milele, in southeastern Kenya in November 2018. No group claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.

She was found in Somalia, around 30km outside the capital, Mogadishu, and was released thanks to efforts by the external intelligence agency, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said.

ROME, May 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A mild earthquake shook Rome early Monday but there were no immediate reports of damage, emergency services said.

Firefighters said they had received numerous inquiries from people after the tremor struck shortly after 5 am, estimated at 3.3 magnitude by the National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology.

Rome is not directly situated in a zone of strong seismic activity, but stronger earthquakes in the neighbouring Abruzzi region have often been felt in the Italian capital.

ROME (AP) — Wearing a surgical mask, disposable gloves and booties to guard against COVID-19, a young Italian woman returned to her homeland Sunday after 18 months as a hostage in eastern Africa.

Silvia Romano lowered her mask briefly to display a broad smile after she stepped off an Italian government plane at Rome-Ciampino International Airport. She hugged her mother and other family members, and touched elbows instead of shaking hands with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio.

ROME, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The number of recoveries from COVID-19 in Italy has exceeded 100,000, according to the latest tally posted by the country's Civil Protection Department on Saturday.

Recoveries jumped by 4,008 compared with 99,023 recoveries on Friday, bringing the nationwide total to 103,031.

Meanwhile, the number of active infections fell by 3,119 from 87,961 on Friday to 84,842.

ROME (AP) — South Korea’s capital closed down more than 2,100 bars and other nightspots Saturday because of a new cluster of coronavirus infections, Germany scrambled to contain fresh outbreaks at slaughterhouses, and Italian authorities worried that people were getting too friendly at cocktail hour during the country’s first weekend of eased restrictions.

The new flareups — and fears of a second wave of contagion — underscored the dilemma authorities face as they try to reopen their economies.