Crowded streets in Milan as virus rules eased

The city of Milan in Lombardy, which has been at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak in Italy, became a yellow zone over the weekend with most of the stringent restrictions lifted. After weeks of stringent rules, the spread of coronavirus been slowing since mid-January. The economic crisis has increased the pressure on the government to allow the reopening of public spaces such as restaurants, cafeterias, shops and museums.   

The Italian population is just under 60 million people and experts say with the current pace of vaccinations, the country will not reach a herd immunity before next autumn. To date, Italy has registered more than 1.13 million cases of coronavirus and over 91,000 deaths.