AFP :
Germany and other parts of Europe took tentative steps to ease lockdown measures on Monday but officials warned the battle against the coronavirus pandemic was far from over.
Some shops reopened in Germany and parents dropped their children off at nurseries in Norway as tight restrictions in place for weeks were lifted in parts of the continent.
After being hit hard by the virus that first emerged in China late last year, Europe has seen encouraging signs in recent days, with death rates dropping in Italy, Spain, France and Britain.
The hope is tempered by fears of new waves of infections, warnings that life will not be back to normal for many months and deep concern over the devastating impact the virus is having on the global economy.
But even the smallest return to normality was welcome.
In the German city of Leipzig, fashion store owner Manuela Fischer said she was “incredibly happy” to be welcoming shoppers again.
In Norway, Silje Skifjell dropped off her boys Isaak and Kasper at a nursery in the north of the capital Oslo.
“He was so excited we had to leave the house early to come here and see the other children,” she said of four-year-old Isaak, her eldest.
“I almost cried, he was so happy to see his friends.”
Governments around the world are mulling how and when to ease lockdowns that have kept more than half of humanity confined to their homes.
The virus has so far infected more than 2.3 million people globally and killed roughly 165,000, with nearly two thirds of the victims in Europe, according to an AFP tally.
Germany, which has been hailed for keeping fatalities low despite a significant number of cases, is allowing smaller shops to reopen in some regions from Monday.
Larger shops and those in major German cities will open later as part of an attempted phased return to a more normal existence that will also see some students go back to school from May 4.
But officials are keeping a watchful eye, with Chancellor Angela Merkel saying Monday she is “greatly concerned” that virus-fighting discipline among the German public may ebb.
Hard-hit Spain, where a nationwide lockdown has been extended, also said it would ease some restrictions to allow children time outside.
Spain on Monday recorded 399 coronavirus deaths in the last 24 hours, its lowest daily count in weeks, and authorities are starting to shut some makeshift facilities set up to relieve the overburdened health system, including a morgue at a Madrid ice rink.
