Showbiz workers stage protest in Rome

Beating empty black storage trunks, used in concerts and theatres, the workers gathered in Rome's Piazza del Popolo to dramatize their demand for a government fund to help them survive.

On Friday (April 16), the government said Italy will ease coronavirus curbs in many areas from April 26 but warned caution was still needed to avoid any reversals in the reopening of many long-shuttered activities.

In March, with cases and hospitalizations rising, Italy paused the four-tier, color-coded system it uses to calibrate the restrictions in place in its tweny regions and enforced the tougher red or orange zones nationwide.

From April 26, the more lenient yellow and white zones will be reinstated where infection levels are low.

In these areas, restaurants and bars will be able to serve clients at outside tables and cinemas and theatres will reopen with attendance limits.

Those protesting on Sunday from the group "Bauli in Piazza" (Cases in Square) said reopening did not mean they will get their income back.