Gage JacksonAfter implementing some of the most severe coronavirus lockdowns, a number of European nations are now preparing to scale back and loosen those restrictions.
Italy, France and Spain are all planning to gradually ease confinement measures, hoping the worst of COVID-19 is behind them.
Trailing only the United States in total fatalities, these three European nations have experienced more than 70,000 virus-related deaths combined.
Italy will reopen it's manufacturing sector on May 4 while Spain will allow outdoor family activities and exercise around the same time. Meanwhile, France's Prime Minister plans to present his exit strategy to its parliament sometime this week.
While Italy has already said schools will remain closed until the fall semester, France is looking to have kids return to classrooms on May 11.
Children in Spain flooded into the streets on Sunday after being completely confined to their homes for the past six weeks. Only parents had been allowed out of the house, but they were restricted to essential trips.
Susana Sabaté, a Spanish mother with three-year-old twins said, "This is wonderful! I can’t believe it has been six weeks. My boys are very active. Today when they saw the front door and we gave them their scooters, they were thrilled."
Still, many countries are proceeding with extreme caution and keeping some restrictions in place amid fears of a second outbreak. For Newsy, I'm Gage Jackson
Contains footage from CNN.
