Reins eased on Italians but others struggle

While worst-hit European nation moves again, Russia, Japan weighed down

Italians were free to stroll and visit relatives for the first time in nine weeks on Monday as the country hardest hit by Europe's coronavirus outbreak eases the world's longest nationwide lockdown.

Four million workers were expected to return to their construction sites and factories as the economically shattered country tries to get moving again.

Restaurants reopened for takeaway service. But bars and even ice cream parlors remained shut. The use of public transport was discouraged and everyone will have to wear masks in indoor public spaces.

On the eve of the easing of the lockdown, the number of new deaths from COVID-19 dropped to 174 on Sunday, Italy's lowest daily figure since the start of the lockdown on March 10, according to the health authorities. The country's death toll stood at 28,884 on Sunday.

The lockdown will be eased in further stages at two-week increments, on May 18 and June 1, provided the data related to the outbreak continue to improve.

In Russia, the number of cases rose by over 10,000 for the second straight day, the country's health authorities said on Monday.

In the 24 hours to noon on Monday, the rise was 10,581, shy of the record of 10,633 the previous day. This brought Russia's nationwide tally to 145,268 and the death toll to 1,356.

Despite the increases, the government has indicated it could gradually lift confinement measures from May 12, depending on the region, The Moscow Times reported.

The Chinese embassy in Moscow reposted an announcement from Air China on Monday in which it said that from May 8 all passengers on its flights from Moscow to Beijing must provide negative nucleic acid testing results within 120 hours of boarding.

The tests should be made at one of the six institutions in Moscow and St. Petersburg that were listed on the embassy's website.

In France, the pandemic has claimed 24,895 lives as of Sunday. Travelers who arrive from a country in Europe's Schengen open-border area or Britain will be exempt from a compulsory two-week quarantine, the Elysee Palace said on Sunday.

Despite the eased conditions for travelers from within the Schengen Area and Britain, the tough quarantine rules for those coming from other places will stay in place. France is preparing to gradually lift lockdown measures from May 11.

In Asia, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday decided to extend the country's national state of emergency to May 31.

Abe will consider lifting the state of emergency without waiting for its May 31 expiration if expert advisers decide that is possible based on detailed analysis of regional infection trends, he said at a meeting of the government's coronavirus task force.

Even though Japan has not seen a huge outbreak compared with some global hot spots, the coronavirus has infected 15,913 people and killed 542 in the country, according to public broadcaster NHK.

Fabrication denounced

Meanwhile, amid controversy, Japanese Nobel laureate Tasuku Honjo denounced the posting online of fabricated reports that claimed he had said the new coronavirus was man-made.

Honjo said the broadcasting of unsubstantiated claims regarding the origins of the disease is dangerously distracting, especially at a time when all people need to work together to fight the common enemy of coronavirus.

In Latin America, 4,588 new cases of the virus were recorded in Brazil, with 275 deaths, over the latest reported 24-hour period, the health ministry said on Sunday. That brought the total number of confirmed cases in the country to over 100,000. Brazil's death toll stood at 7,025 on Sunday.

Chen Yingqun in Beijing, Xinhua and agencies contributed to this story.