ROME (AP) – Much of Italy reopened cautiously on Monday after the coronavirus closed before Christmas, with the Vatican Museums welcoming a handful of visitors to the Sistine Chapel and locals asking for their cappuccinos at outdoor tables by first time in weeks.
While many European countries remain in strict confinements amid rising infections and variants of COVID-19, five more Italian regions have moved into the coveted “yellow” risk category as of Monday. This meant that the museums and the Colosseum could reopen, the bar and restaurant service with tables could be resumed during the day and many high school students could return to classes part-time.
“We can finally breathe again after this long period of stay at home,” said waiter Elsafty Rashad as he set up tables outside La Nonna Betta restaurant in Rome’s Ghetto neighborhood. “Without work, staying at home every day is very difficult for us, young people who work, who have to pay rent and everything.”
Italy is not absolutely out of danger: the country has an average of about 12,000-15,000 new confirmed cases and 300-600 deaths from COVID-19 per day. But it appears to have prevented the sharp post-Christmas increase in Britain and elsewhere, thanks to the stricter holiday restrictions that kept ski slopes closed and prevented residents from traveling outside their regions for large family gatherings.
Many travel restrictions remain in effect, along with orders for internal and external masks, a curfew at 10 pm, limits on public transport and other social distance rules designed to prevent the health system from sinking.
Tuscany, for example, was declared “yellow” last week and on Monday its famous Uffizi Gallery reported that some 7,300 visitors had already passed through its doors. Museum director Eike Schmidt said he hoped the government would allow the museum to reopen on weekends as well, although for now, visitors are almost exclusively local, as interregional travel is still restricted.
In Rome, Monday’s “yellow” designation meant that the Vatican Museums received visitors for the first time in 88 days – the longest closure ever. Museum director Barbara Jatta said the team took advantage of the week-end closing to reorganize some exhibition halls and carry out maintenance work that would be difficult to complete with the nearly 7 million visitors who normally flock to see the “Judgment” Final “by Michelangelo and Rafael’s masterpieces each year.
“I think it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see it so empty,” marveled Julia Lammer, a visitor from Austria who said she had been in Rome for several weeks before being able to buy a ticket online to see the Sistine Chapel on the first day has been reopened.
Italy, the first country in the West to be hit by COVID-19, closed its museums in early November during the height of its autumn resurgence and divided the country into a three-tier risk zone, with regions restricted more severe (red) to minimum (yellow) based on infection rates and the health system’s responsiveness.
The hardest hit Lombardy has been declared a “red zone” as it has once again succumbed to a high number of infections and deaths. But even Lombardy went “orange” on Monday, allowing stores to reopen and delivery to restaurants and bars. However, not all stores took advantage, with many still closed on a typically slow Monday morning.
In Rome, where the designation “yellow” and the reopening coincided with the suggestion of a spring day, residents were making the most of it.
“We couldn’t wait,” said Giulia Marcelli while taking a morning sunbath. “Look, the first morning I’m here with my daddy getting a cappuccino, sitting at a table, outside.”
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Nicole Winfield contributed to this report.