The Latest: Portugal to Ease Restrictions Next Month

TOP OF THE HOUR:

— Portugal to ease restrictions next month.

— British lawmakers urge government to tackle domestic violence.

— Italy first European Union country to apply for financial aid from a 800-million euros fund.

— After COVID-19: Anxious, wary first responders back on job

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LISBON, Portugal — Portugal’s prime minister says authorities are aiming to relax some of the measures devised to stem the spread of the coronavirus next month.

Prime Minister Antonio Costa says new rules on self-isolation and going back to work or school will be introduced every two weeks, as their impact is assessed.

The plan is due to be announced on Thursday.

Costa warned the changes don’t mean a return to normal and that will only happen once there is a vaccine.

Portugal was quick to enact a lockdown and has reported 903 deaths from COVID-19, far fewer than neighboring Spain’s more than 23,500.

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LONDON — British lawmakers are urging the government to take urgent action to tackle domestic violence after a report found that calls to the national domestic abuse helpline surged 49% during the coronavirus lockdown.

The Home Affairs Committee also cited research that estimated at least 16 domestic abuse killings of women and children took place between Mar. 23 when lockdown measures were announced and April 12. It is double that of an average 21 day period in the last decade.

Yvette Cooper is chair of the committee and said Monday urgent action is needed to protect victims.

The committee called for new emergency funding for social services to protect vulnerable women and children, and measures to ensure victims can access urgent help during lockdown.

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BRUSSELS — Italy has become the first European Union country to apply for financial aid from a 800-million euros fund set up by the 27-country bloc to tackle the crisis triggered by the new coronavirus pandemics.

Italy has been the hardest-hit EU country by the deadly virus so far with some 26,000 fatalities.

The fund initially was designed to help countries hit by natural disasters. Now it can be used in health emergencies like the COVID-19 crisis after the European Council and the EU Parliament approved a proposal from the bloc’s executive arm.

The European Commission said Monday that member states can request aid until June 24. Applications will then be assessed by the Commission, which will submit a proposal for financial aid to the Council and the Parliament.

The Commission will deal with all applications in one single package, not on a first come first served basis.

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GENEVA — Businesses like hair salons, tattoo parlors, veterinarians’ offices and garden shops are reopening up across Switzerland.

It is part of a multi-tiered reopening as the Alpine country gradually eases restrictions aimed to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.

Requirements from Swiss authorities say businesses must provide individual clients an average of at least 10 square meters in their shops and offices, set up lines outside their buildings and regularly clean their equipment and surfaces.

Service-providers like barbers and masseurs who come within 2 meters of customers were advised to wear masks and transparent-plastic face screens, and wash or disinfected hands before and after each client.

Pet-owners were expected to drop off their animals outside the vet offices, only to pick them up after the visits are over.

Long-lines snaked outside large garden shops and hardware stores in some areas as the easing took place on Monday.

Swiss authorities for weeks have forced the closure of all non-essential shops and services. Schools and a wider array of businesses are to resume operations on May 11, followed by a vastly expanded reopening on June 8.

No date has been set for the resumption of large gatherings such as sporting events and concerts.

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ATHENS — Greece will announce detailed plans to ease coronavirus-related restrictions on Tuesday but authorities have already promised haircuts will be among the first services available.

Hair salons and barbershops will be included in the first stage of reopening businesses when restrictions begin to ease on May 4.

A recent opinion poll found that going to the hairdressers was top of Greeks’ post-lockdown wish list, followed by domestic travel, and buying clothes.

Strict lockdown measures have helped keep the spread of COVID-19 relatively contained in Greece. The death toll in Greece is 134, and there are 2,517 confirmed cases.

But police have reported an increase in violations in recent days as public anxiety over the pandemic eases and the weather improves.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A mother, her daughter and her friend, both aged 7, have been fined entering a playground in downtown Copenhagen that is part of a zone police closed after it was crowded in recent days because of the spring sun.

National police head Thorkild Fogde told Danish broadcaster DR on Monday that “one cannot enter the zone whether you’re a young man with a boom-box or a mother with her children.”

Majka Munk Michaelsen and the two girls were given the fine Sunday on Islands Brygge, a popular harbor front area with playgrounds, cafes, lawns, benches and baths. She told DR that they wouldn’t have entered the playground if there had been some people inside.