Italy's factories to reopen first in measures to ease coronavirus lockdown

Manufacturers, builders and some wholesalers will be allowed to restart from May 4

Italian Guardia di Finanza officers wearing protective face masks man a checkpoint near Milan. EPA

Italy will allow factories and building sites to reopen from May 4 and permit limited family visits in a phased end to Europe's longest lockdown, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Sunday.

More than two months after the first case of Covid-19 appeared in a small town outside Milan, Italy is planning to try to restart the economy without starting a new wave of infections.

"We expect a very complex challenge," Mr Conte said. "We will live with the virus and we will have to adopt every precaution possible."

Manufacturers, building companies and some wholesalers will be allowed to reopen from May 4, followed by retailers two weeks later.

Restaurants and bars will be allowed to reopen fully from the start of June, although takeaways could be earlier.

"The reopening is allowed on condition that all companies involved strictly respect security protocols in the workplace," Mr Conte said.

He said the reopening would lay the ground for deeper economic reforms in the months ahead.

Parks will be allowed to reopen, and limited family visits and funerals with no more than 15 people will be permitted.

But movement between regions remains suspended and people moving about will still have to carry a declaration explaining the reasons for their journeys.

Museums and libraries can reopen from May 18, when sports teams will also be able to resume group training.

But Mr Conte said conditions would have to be assessed before any decision on resuming the top-flight Serie A soccer championship.

Schools will remain shut until the start of the new academic year in September, leaving families to face childcare problems for months to come.

The lockdown has put a strain on the eurozone's third-largest economy, which is headed for its worst recession since the Second World War.

Italian business leaders have called for the restrictions to be eased to avoid economic catastrophe.

Mr Conte said the more limited restrictions would probably remain in place until a vaccine or cure for Covid-19 was discovered. That is not expected for many months.

On Sunday, Italian authorities reported a third consecutive daily fall in coronavirus fatalities, with 260 deaths. It was the lowest number since March 14.

Italy's death toll remains the largest in Europe, with more than 26,644 dead and almost 200,000 confirmed cases of the respiratory disease.

But new cases have been slowing and the number of patients in intensive care has been falling steadily.