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SUMMER 2021 Italian American Digest
Italy Tiptoes Towards Post-COVID Normality
Italian coffee bars , restaurants , cinemas and theatres partially reopened in most regions on Monday as part of a phased springtime relaxation of COVID-19 lockdowns .
" Finally !" said Lorenzo Campania , an elderly man from a small village near Rome , as he had breakfast seated at an outdoor table near the capital ' s central Piazza Venezia .
Fourteen of the country ' s 20 regions have been designated yellow zones , meaning there is a relatively low risk from COVID-19 . Five are classified orange and one , Sardinia , red .
In the yellow zones , coffee bars and restaurants are now allowed to serve customers outdoors after a neartotal shutdown of about six weeks .
However , having a quick espresso and cornetto , the equivalent of the French croissant , standing at the bar - a morning ritual for millions - will still be prohibited for another six weeks .
" People really want to come and have their breakfast standing up at the bar ," said Loredana Pompeii , the owner of a bar in central Rome .
Outdoor amateur team contact sports were also allowed again . The re-opening of pools and gyms will be phased in over the next few weeks , with strict social distancing rules in force .
By : Carmelo Camilli Source : Reuters
Theatres , cinemas , museums and cultural heritage sites reopened , albeit with limited capacity of no more than 50 percent for those indoors . Many also
Italians sit at a bar as much of the country becomes a ' yellow zone ', easing coronavirus disease ( COVID-19 ) restrictions allowing bars and restaurants to open for food and drinks at outdoor tables , in Venice , Italy , April 26 , 2021 .
REUTERS / Manuel Silvestri
required online reservations in order to control the flow .
In Milan , about 100 movie lovers celebrated by lining up before dawn outside the Beltrade Cinema for a 6 a . m . showing of director Nanni Moretti ' s 1993 cult film " Caro Diaro " ( Dear Diary ).
The Colosseum re-opened for individuals but not for tour groups .
" I hope this will really be a reopening and not a kind of hiccup like last summer ," said Elisabetta Marchi , visiting from Florence .
Italy was the first Western country to be hit hard by COVID-19 in early 2020 , and health officials have stressed that people should still be careful , wear masks and maintain social distancing .
" It is also our responsibility ," said
Elisabetta Pronti , 57 , a civil servant in Rome . " I hope that now that places have re-opened it doesn ' t mean everybody is free to do what they want ."
Some restaurants with outdoor space said they would wait to reopen until June 1 , when indoor dining will be allowed .
" It ' s risky for us to buy produce , cook , call in staff and have everything ready to eat outdoors and then not be able to go inside if it starts raining ," said
Massimmiliano Benedetti , 44 , whose family owns Il Ruscello ( The Creek ), a restaurant in the Umbrian village of Ceselli .
In the yellow zone , many schools which had been operating a system where students alternated between days in the classroom and days of distancelearning in order to reduce the numbers on site , allowed more students to return .
Like many , Leandro Paparusso , who studies at Rome ' s Isaac Newton science high school , was glad to be back behind a desk and he had one wish .
" I hope this virtual learning isn ' t used post-COVID . I hope it was born because of COVID and then dies ," he said .