Italy will allow international travel in and out of the country from June 3 as part of its easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions.
A decree signed by prime minister Giuseppe Conte early on Saturday morning will also allow people to move freely within the region they live as of Monday.
Italy imposed a nationwide lockdown after it became the first country outside Asia with a major outbreak of coronavirus.
More than 31,000 people have died, leaving Italy with the highest death toll after the United States and the UK.
But the government led by Premier Giuseppe Conte has gradually reopened the country as the rates of infections and deaths have fallen.
Social distancing measures will remain in place as various sectors of the Italian economy begin to reopen.
Factories and parks reopened on May 4 but schools remain closed and crowds are not permitted.
Shops are restaurants are due to reopen from May 18 providing that social distancing is enforced.
People will be allowed to attend Mass in churches with some restrictions on May 18 but worshippers must wear face masks socially distance. Other religious ceremonies will also be allowed to take place.
All travel restrictions will then be eased from June 3.
The easing of lockdown restrictions provide a glimmer of hope for British holidaymakers who are in limbo about whether they can make plans for foreign holidays this summer.
The British Government has been urging Britons not to make plans as lockdown restrictions and travel warnings remain in place.
President Donald Trump says the US will reopen, "vaccine or no vaccine", as he announced an objective to deliver a coronavirus jab by year end.
He likened the vaccine project, dubbed "Operation Warp Speed", to the World War Two effort to produce the world's first nuclear weapons.
But Mr Trump made clear that even without a vaccine, Americans must begin to return to their lives as normal.
Many experts doubt that a coronavirus jab can be developed within a year.
What is Operation Warp Speed?
Speaking at a White House Rose Garden news conference on Friday, Mr Trump said the project would begin with studies on 14 promising vaccine candidates for accelerated research and approval.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
"That means big and it means fast," he said of Operation Warp Speed. "A massive scientific, industrial and logistical endeavour unlike anything our country has seen since the Manhattan Project."
Mr Trump named an Army general and a former healthcare executive to lead the operation, a partnership between the government and private sector to find and distribute a vaccine.
Moncef Slaoui, who previously led the vaccines division at pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, will lead the mission, while Gen Gustave Perna, who oversees distribution for the US Army, is to serve as chief operating officer.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
Speaking after Mr Trump, Mr Slaoui said he was "confident" that a "few hundred million doses of vaccine" will be delivered by the end of 2020.
He acknowledged in an earlier interview with the New York Times that the timeline was ambitious, but said he "would not have committed unless I thought it was achievable".
Many experts say a vaccine is the only thing that will give Americans confidence in fully reopening the economy in the absence of widespread testing.
"I don't want people to think this is all dependent on a vaccine," he said. "Vaccine or no vaccine, we're back. And we're starting the process."
"In many cases they don't have vaccines and a virus or a flu comes and you fight through it," he added. "Other things have never had a vaccine and they go away."
"I think the schools should be back in the fall," Mr Trump continued.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
Earlier this week Dr Anthony Fauci, who serves on the coronavirus taskforce and appeared wearing a mask at the Rose Garden conference, testified to the Senate that it would be a "bridge too far" for schools to reopen in the autumn.
As Mr Trump spoke on Friday, lorry drivers who have parked around the White House for several weeks blared their horns in protest against low wages, neither for nor against the president.
"Those are friendly truckers. They're on our side," Mr Trump said. "It's almost a celebration in a way."
At one point, the president - who wore no mask - instructed a reporter to remove hers so she could be better heard over the noise of honking as she addressed him.
Is end of 2020 a realistic timeframe?
Dr Fauci and other experts have strongly suggested that a jab will take at least a year to develop.
When the Ebola outbreak struck between 2014-16, it was not until December 2019 that the US Food and Drug Administration approved its first vaccine.
Some health experts have remained sceptical about the rapid timeline for development and distribution proposed by the White House.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
"I don't understand how that happens," said Dr Peter Hotez, co-director of the Medicine Coronavirus Vaccine Team at Baylor College, on CNN after Mr Trump's announcement.
"I don't see a path by which any vaccine is licensed for emergency use or otherwise till the third quarter of 2021," he added.
Dr Rick Bright, an ousted US vaccines director who has accused the White House of exerting political pressure around coronavirus treatments, testified to Congress on Thursday that such jabs often take up to a decade to develop.
'Warp Speed' is the latest of several Covid response projects Washington has undertaken.
In March, the White House launched a testing initiative, enlisting major pharmacy retailers like CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid to set up drive-through testing sites throughout the country. Such partnerships have stalled, however, and the US has faced continued criticism for its lags in testing.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
In recent weeks, the White House announced further efforts and has helped ramp up testing to nearly 10 million as of 15 May, according to the Our World in Data database.
Besides the new White House jab initiative, the Food and Drug Administration is also evaluating vaccine candidates for possible human trials.
On Friday night, the Democratic-controlled US House of Representatives passed by a vote of 208-199 a bill to spend more than $3tn (£2.5tn) on coronavirus relief, including stimulus funds to local governments and direct payments to Americans.
But the package, which even some Democrats objected to, is rated as having no chance of passage in the Republican-controlled Senate.
President Donald Trump says the US will reopen, "vaccine or no vaccine", as he announced an objective to deliver a coronavirus jab by year end.
He likened the vaccine project, dubbed "Operation Warp Speed", to the World War Two effort to produce the world's first nuclear weapons.
But Mr Trump made clear that even without a vaccine, Americans must begin to return to their lives as normal.
Many experts doubt that a coronavirus jab can be developed within a year.
What is Operation Warp Speed?
Speaking at a White House Rose Garden news conference on Friday, Mr Trump said the project would begin with studies on 14 promising vaccine candidates for accelerated research and approval.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
"That means big and it means fast," he said of Operation Warp Speed. "A massive scientific, industrial and logistical endeavour unlike anything our country has seen since the Manhattan Project."
Mr Trump named an Army general and a former healthcare executive to lead the operation, a partnership between the government and private sector to find and distribute a vaccine.
Moncef Slaoui, who previously led the vaccines division at pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, will lead the mission, while Gen Gustave Perna, who oversees distribution for the US Army, is to serve as chief operating officer.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
Speaking after Mr Trump, Mr Slaoui said he was "confident" that a "few hundred million doses of vaccine" will be delivered by the end of 2020.
He acknowledged in an earlier interview with the New York Times that the timeline was ambitious, but said he "would not have committed unless I thought it was achievable".
Many experts say a vaccine is the only thing that will give Americans confidence in fully reopening the economy in the absence of widespread testing.
"I don't want people to think this is all dependent on a vaccine," he said. "Vaccine or no vaccine, we're back. And we're starting the process."
"In many cases they don't have vaccines and a virus or a flu comes and you fight through it," he added. "Other things have never had a vaccine and they go away."
"I think the schools should be back in the fall," Mr Trump continued.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
Earlier this week Dr Anthony Fauci, who serves on the coronavirus taskforce and appeared wearing a mask at the Rose Garden conference, testified to the Senate that it would be a "bridge too far" for schools to reopen in the autumn.
As Mr Trump spoke on Friday, lorry drivers who have parked around the White House for several weeks blared their horns in protest against low wages, neither for nor against the president.
"Those are friendly truckers. They're on our side," Mr Trump said. "It's almost a celebration in a way."
At one point, the president - who wore no mask - instructed a reporter to remove hers so she could be better heard over the noise of honking as she addressed him.
Is end of 2020 a realistic timeframe?
Dr Fauci and other experts have strongly suggested that a jab will take at least a year to develop.
When the Ebola outbreak struck between 2014-16, it was not until December 2019 that the US Food and Drug Administration approved its first vaccine.
Some health experts have remained sceptical about the rapid timeline for development and distribution proposed by the White House.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
"I don't understand how that happens," said Dr Peter Hotez, co-director of the Medicine Coronavirus Vaccine Team at Baylor College, on CNN after Mr Trump's announcement.
"I don't see a path by which any vaccine is licensed for emergency use or otherwise till the third quarter of 2021," he added.
Dr Rick Bright, an ousted US vaccines director who has accused the White House of exerting political pressure around coronavirus treatments, testified to Congress on Thursday that such jabs often take up to a decade to develop.
'Warp Speed' is the latest of several Covid response projects Washington has undertaken.
In March, the White House launched a testing initiative, enlisting major pharmacy retailers like CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid to set up drive-through testing sites throughout the country. Such partnerships have stalled, however, and the US has faced continued criticism for its lags in testing.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
In recent weeks, the White House announced further efforts and has helped ramp up testing to nearly 10 million as of 15 May, according to the Our World in Data database.
Besides the new White House jab initiative, the Food and Drug Administration is also evaluating vaccine candidates for possible human trials.
On Friday night, the Democratic-controlled US House of Representatives passed by a vote of 208-199 a bill to spend more than $3tn (£2.5tn) on coronavirus relief, including stimulus funds to local governments and direct payments to Americans.
But the package, which even some Democrats objected to, is rated as having no chance of passage in the Republican-controlled Senate.
President Donald Trump says the US will reopen, "vaccine or no vaccine", as he announced an objective to deliver a coronavirus jab by year end.
He likened the vaccine project, dubbed "Operation Warp Speed", to the World War Two effort to produce the world's first nuclear weapons.
But Mr Trump made clear that even without a vaccine, Americans must begin to return to their lives as normal.
Many experts doubt that a coronavirus jab can be developed within a year.
What is Operation Warp Speed?
Speaking at a White House Rose Garden news conference on Friday, Mr Trump said the project would begin with studies on 14 promising vaccine candidates for accelerated research and approval.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
"That means big and it means fast," he said of Operation Warp Speed. "A massive scientific, industrial and logistical endeavour unlike anything our country has seen since the Manhattan Project."
Mr Trump named an Army general and a former healthcare executive to lead the operation, a partnership between the government and private sector to find and distribute a vaccine.
Moncef Slaoui, who previously led the vaccines division at pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, will lead the mission, while Gen Gustave Perna, who oversees distribution for the US Army, is to serve as chief operating officer.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
Speaking after Mr Trump, Mr Slaoui said he was "confident" that a "few hundred million doses of vaccine" will be delivered by the end of 2020.
He acknowledged in an earlier interview with the New York Times that the timeline was ambitious, but said he "would not have committed unless I thought it was achievable".
Many experts say a vaccine is the only thing that will give Americans confidence in fully reopening the economy in the absence of widespread testing.
"I don't want people to think this is all dependent on a vaccine," he said. "Vaccine or no vaccine, we're back. And we're starting the process."
"In many cases they don't have vaccines and a virus or a flu comes and you fight through it," he added. "Other things have never had a vaccine and they go away."
"I think the schools should be back in the fall," Mr Trump continued.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
Earlier this week Dr Anthony Fauci, who serves on the coronavirus taskforce and appeared wearing a mask at the Rose Garden conference, testified to the Senate that it would be a "bridge too far" for schools to reopen in the autumn.
As Mr Trump spoke on Friday, lorry drivers who have parked around the White House for several weeks blared their horns in protest against low wages, neither for nor against the president.
"Those are friendly truckers. They're on our side," Mr Trump said. "It's almost a celebration in a way."
At one point, the president - who wore no mask - instructed a reporter to remove hers so she could be better heard over the noise of honking as she addressed him.
Is end of 2020 a realistic timeframe?
Dr Fauci and other experts have strongly suggested that a jab will take at least a year to develop.
When the Ebola outbreak struck between 2014-16, it was not until December 2019 that the US Food and Drug Administration approved its first vaccine.
Some health experts have remained sceptical about the rapid timeline for development and distribution proposed by the White House.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
"I don't understand how that happens," said Dr Peter Hotez, co-director of the Medicine Coronavirus Vaccine Team at Baylor College, on CNN after Mr Trump's announcement.
"I don't see a path by which any vaccine is licensed for emergency use or otherwise till the third quarter of 2021," he added.
Dr Rick Bright, an ousted US vaccines director who has accused the White House of exerting political pressure around coronavirus treatments, testified to Congress on Thursday that such jabs often take up to a decade to develop.
'Warp Speed' is the latest of several Covid response projects Washington has undertaken.
In March, the White House launched a testing initiative, enlisting major pharmacy retailers like CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid to set up drive-through testing sites throughout the country. Such partnerships have stalled, however, and the US has faced continued criticism for its lags in testing.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
In recent weeks, the White House announced further efforts and has helped ramp up testing to nearly 10 million as of 15 May, according to the Our World in Data database.
Besides the new White House jab initiative, the Food and Drug Administration is also evaluating vaccine candidates for possible human trials.
On Friday night, the Democratic-controlled US House of Representatives passed by a vote of 208-199 a bill to spend more than $3tn (£2.5tn) on coronavirus relief, including stimulus funds to local governments and direct payments to Americans.
But the package, which even some Democrats objected to, is rated as having no chance of passage in the Republican-controlled Senate.
Donald Trump has said he is hopeful of having a coronavirus vaccine on the market by the end of the year.
The vaccine hunt is part of what the US president described as a "momentous medical initiative" called Operation Warp Speed.
At an event in the White House Rose Garden, in which many officials wore face masks but the president did not, he announced the project in a speech peppered with promises.
Image:Donald Trump is keen to reopen the US economy - with or without a vaccine
Explaining the name Operation Warp Speed, he said "that means big and it means fast", adding: "Nobody's seen anything like we're doing now within our country since the Second World War. Incredible."
There are a number of promising trials around the world seeking a vaccination against coronavirus, which has killed more than 300,000 people worldwide and Mr Trump said "we'd love to see if we could do it prior to the end of the year".
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The US government will invest in all the top coronavirusvaccine candidates, and a list has been narrowed to 14 promising potential vaccines with a plan to narrow it further, he said.
He also said that the US was working "very strongly" with other countries, although he did not say which ones, and that those other countries were "viewing us as the leader".
More from Covid-19
He added: "We've got countries that are allies... we have some countries, frankly, that aren't allies where we're working very closely together.
"We have no ego. Whoever gets it, we think it's great. We're going to work with them. They're going to work with us."
Mr Trump, who initially dismissed the seriousness of COVID-19, has faced criticism for his apparent lack of interest in helping co-ordinate a global strategy.
There was no US representative at a virtual meeting of world leaders last week, which aims to raise funds to find a vaccine and clear the way for mass production and distribution.
PM urges countries to pull together
There are fears that if a vaccine for coronavirus was developed within the US, the president would be unwilling to immediately share it with the rest of the world.
Speaking on the Sky News Daily podcast, Beth Cameron - who led the NSC's strategy regarding the response to potential pandemics between 2014 and 2017 - said: "Most frustrating to me is that the US isn't helping to be the leader in the global response.
"We are one of a number of countries that can and should lead during a crisis like this because we have a lot of expertise and the ability to work collaboratively with countries around the world.
"During the Ebola epidemic we really led on that, working with partners like the UK, France, Germany and others, but right now it seems we have really ceded some of that leadership role and are not really at the table."
Neighbours Switzerland, Germany, and Austria begin relaxing border restrictions this weekend, ahead of a full reopening including France in mid-June.
The relaxation means friends, families and lovers divided by the border closures will be able to meet again.
The four countries, all members of the Schengen open-border zone, shut their frontiers in March in a bid to control the spread of the coronavirus.
Road, rail, and air travel were halted.
Tens of thousands of people were turned away at borders. In Switzerland, only Swiss citizens, those with permanent work permits, and essential health workers were allowed entry.
Three months ago such restrictions were unimaginable. The 26 Schengen countries are used to seamless travel. Getting a train from Berlin to Basel, Geneva to Paris, or Vienna to Zurich was an everyday occurrence that everyone took for granted.
Who was hit by closures?
The restrictions have hit border communities particularly hard.
In the "Basel Triangle" where Germany, France, and Switzerland meet, local businesses are interdependent, thousands of people cross the borders daily, to work, to meet friends and family, or to shop.
A few people whose workplaces remained open could still travel, but most residents in the border communities, used to spending their days in two or even three countries, found themselves confined to one, and often separated from close family members or partners.
Why this reopening is important
At the start of May, as cases of the virus fell, Schengen governments began to discuss a reopening.
No-one wanted to be first, but neither did one country want to keep its border closed if its neighbour opened theirs.
The strategy was agreed: reopen the zone's internal borders, like those between Germany, France, Switzerland and Austria, in unison, in a cautious step-by-step process.
For the border towns of Constance in Germany and Kreuzlingen in Switzerland this weekend's relaxation is very important.
These towns have, over the years, become one. Short streets can be Switzerland at one end, and Germany at the other.
When a fence and barriers were erected to enforce the border closures, it caused dismay for many, and heartbreak for some.
Neighbourhoods were divided. Couples who lived on either side of the border found themselves separated. Different generations of the same family could no longer visit each other.
Instead they gathered at the fence, to talk and exchange news through the wire. The fence, later doubled to stop people kissing through it, soon became decorated with flowers, notes, and pictures of broken hearts.
Kreuzlingen Mayor Thomas Niederberger told Swiss SRF news that his city and Constance "are really seen here as a joint living space, so there are very many cross-border ties".
"In one blow, with these border closures, those ties were prohibited. Of course people feel that in our city."
In other border regions, couples and friends travelled to the most out-of-the-way sections of the border, divided only by tape, in order to see one another.
Borders to stay closed for ordinary travellers
Now after intense lobbying in Berlin and Bern by mayors in the border regions, the borders will reopen for separated lovers and divided families. And people with allotments across the border will finally be able to tend them again.
But for tourists, shoppers and the simply curious the frontiers stay closed.
Policing this arrangement will be tricky. Those wishing to cross from Switzerland to Germany have to fill out a form, explaining why they want to go and who they want to visit.
Proving you have family members across the border should be fairly straightforward, but confirming you are in a long-term relationship with someone may be difficult.
Mayor Niederberger said "it certainly is a tough nut to crack for the border guards to police and manage this relaxation correctly".
It's all a long way from that time, just three months ago, when communities across Europe lived, worked and played together with no thought that borders would divide them.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
Switzerland, France, Germany and Austria say they hope to reopen their borders with one another completely in mid-June. But only if cases of the coronavirus remain low.
It's not clear if that fence in Kreuzlingen will come down immediately. And the border with neighbouring Italy, hard hit in the pandemic, remains closed.
President Donald Trump has promised the US will reopen "vaccine or no vaccine", as he announced an objective to deliver a coronavirus jab by year end.
He likened the vaccine project, dubbed "Operation Warp Speed", to the World War Two effort to produce the world's first nuclear weapons.
But Mr Trump made clear that even without a vaccine, Americans must begin to return to their lives as normal.
Many experts doubt that a coronavirus jab can be developed within a year.
What is Operation Warp Speed?
Speaking at a White House Rose Garden news conference on Friday, Mr Trump said the project would begin with studies on 14 promising vaccine candidates for accelerated research and approval.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
"That means big and it means fast," he said of Operation Warp Speed. "A massive scientific, industrial and logistical endeavour unlike anything our country has seen since the Manhattan Project."
Mr Trump named an Army general and a former healthcare executive to lead the operation, a partnership between the government and private sector to find and distribute a vaccine.
Moncef Slaoui, who previously led the vaccines division at pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, will lead the mission, while Gen Gustave Perna, who oversees distribution for the US Army, is to serve as chief operating officer.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
Speaking after Mr Trump, Mr Slaoui said he was "confident" that a "few hundred million doses of vaccine" will be delivered by the end of 2020.
He acknowledged in an earlier interview with the New York Times that the timeline was ambitious, but said he "would not have committed unless I thought it was achievable".
Many experts say a vaccine is the only thing that will give Americans confidence in fully reopening the economy in the absence of widespread testing.
"I don't want people to think this is all dependent on a vaccine," he said. "Vaccine or no vaccine, we're back. And we're starting the process."
"In many cases they don't have vaccines and a virus or a flu comes and you fight through it," he added. "Other things have never had a vaccine and they go away."
"I think the schools should be back in the fall," Mr Trump continued.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
Earlier this week Dr Anthony Fauci, who serves on the coronavirus taskforce and appeared wearing a mask at the Rose Garden conference, testified to the Senate that it would be a "bridge too far" for schools to reopen in the autumn.
As Mr Trump spoke on Friday, lorry drivers who have parked around the White House for several weeks blared their horns in protest against low wages, neither for nor against the president.
"Those are friendly truckers. They're on our side," Mr Trump said. "It's almost a celebration in a way."
At one point, the president - who wore no mask - instructed a reporter to remove hers so she could be better heard over the noise of honking as she addressed him.
Is end of 2020 a realistic timeframe?
Dr Fauci and other experts have strongly suggested that a jab will take at least a year to develop.
When the Ebola outbreak struck between 2014-16, it was not until December 2019 that the US Food and Drug Administration approved its first vaccine.
Some health experts have remained sceptical about the rapid timeline for development and distribution proposed by the White House.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
"I don't understand how that happens," said Dr Peter Hotez, co-director of the Medicine Coronavirus Vaccine Team at Baylor College, on CNN after Mr Trump's announcement.
"I don't see a path by which any vaccine is licensed for emergency use or otherwise till the third quarter of 2021," he added.
Dr Rick Bright, an ousted US vaccines director who has accused the White House of exerting political pressure around coronavirus treatments, testified to Congress on Thursday that such jabs often take up to a decade to develop.
'Warp Speed' is the latest of several Covid response projects Washington has undertaken.
In March, the White House launched a testing initiative, enlisting major pharmacy retailers like CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid to set up drive-through testing sites throughout the country. Such partnerships have stalled, however, and the US has faced continued criticism for its lags in testing.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
In recent weeks, the White House announced further efforts and has helped ramp up testing to nearly 10 million as of 15 May, according to the Our World in Data database.
Besides the new White House jab initiative, the Food and Drug Administration is also evaluating vaccine candidates for possible human trials.
On Friday night, the Democratic-controlled US House of Representatives passed by a vote of 208-199 a bill to spend more than $3tn (£2.5tn) on coronavirus relief, including stimulus funds to local governments and direct payments to Americans.
But the package, which even some Democrats objected to, is rated as having no chance of passage in the Republican-controlled Senate.
