How Europe is slowly adapting post coronavirus lockdown – including plexiglass ‘Covid shields’ in Italian restaurants
EUROPE is beginning to slowly adapt to the new normal after the coronavirus pandemic as some nations start to ease lockdown measures.
Pictures reveal solutions such as plexiglass shields in restaurants in Italy, and all-masked classes as schools reopened in Germany.
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Europe has been the worst impacted region in the world aside from the United States, with seven nations occupying the top ten of countries with most deaths during the coronavirus pandemic.
The peak now appears to have passed for many European states - and tough questions are being asked about how to return to a somewhat normal life.
Il Ciak restaurant in Rome, Italy, is trialing a new plexiglass separator to allow people to return to dining out again.
Italy has the second highest death toll in the world, with 25,549 fatalities from an confirmed case count of 189,973.
The daily death toll is falling - and Italy is due to begin wider easing lockdown restrictions on May 4.
With millions people expected to return to work that day, union officials have urged people not to use public transport.
Companies are planning to lay on dedicated buses for workers, issuing staggered shifts, and carrying out vigorous testing of employees.
Officials are also planning to have shops open seven days a week in a bid to spread out the rush from shoppers.
Milan City Council is also planning to widen pavements, extend cycle paths and to encourage the use of electric scooters.
Italy will be the first Western nation to emerge from two months of deep lockdown, and fears loom over a potential second wave of infections.
Governments and health officials will be watching the nation closely - along with a host of other countries in Europe starting to ease measures.
Denmark - which has 394 deaths and 8,073 cases - has seen a rush of people going for haircuts as salons opened for the first time in a month as lockdown eased.
Phil Olander, owner of Phil's Barber in central Copenhagen, told the BBC: "We are crazy busy. I mean fully booked for the next two weeks."
Other businesses including tattoo parlours, beauticians, dentists and opticians are now permitted to reopen under strict health guidelines.
Driving lessons are now also allowed, and last week Denmark's youngest children returned to primary school - with further measures in place until May 10.
Spain - the third hardest hit nation in the world with 22,157 dead and 213,024 cases - has also eased its lockdown, allowing some businesses to reopen.
The government has also announced looser restrictions on children, allowing them to leave the house.
Construction companies have also been allowed to resume work under strict new guidelines.
Germany - which has 151,784 cases and 5,404 deaths - has also allowed students due to sit exams to go back to school, and also relaxed shop closures.
Car production has also restarted at some factories, and garden centres are open again.
German chancellor Angela Merkel has warned life cannot return to normal - and said some states had gone too far in easing lockdown measures.
Belgium meanwhile is due to announce a "step by step" lifting of the lockdown tomorrow, and France and the Netherlands are considering reopening schools.
Britain currently does not have a concrete plan for easing lockdown, with chief medical officer Chris Whitty predicting measures will last until 2021.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing pressure from cabinet colleagues to begin reopening Britain - but the PM fears a second wave after his overcame his own fight with coronavirus.
Britain's death toll rose again today to near 19,000, with the total number of infections approaching 140,000, amid hope the UK has passed the first peak.
