Italy's PM outlines lockdown easing measures

Italy has outlined plans to ease the strict restrictions imposed seven weeks ago to curb the spread of the coronavirus as it recorded its lowest daily death toll since mid-March.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said curbs would be eased from 4 May, with people being allowed to visit their relatives in small numbers, in masks.

Parks will reopen, but schools will not restart classes until September.

Italy has reported 26,644 virus-related deaths, Europe's highest official toll.

The country recorded 260 new deaths on Sunday, the lowest daily figure since 14 March. It has confirmed 197,675 cases of the virus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the disease globally.

The number of cases has been falling, and authorities now believe Italy's contagion rate - the number of people each person with the virus infects - is low enough to justify a cautious easing of curbs.