ITALY: All of Italy became a mask-free, “low-risk” zone for coronavirus, marking a dramatic milestone for the first European country to be hit by the global pandemic in February 2020.

In a decree that took effect on Monday, the health ministry for the first time classified each of Italy's 20 regions as “white”, signifying low risk, under the country's colour-coded classification system that evaluates Covid-19 risk.

That means facemasks will no longer be compulsory in outdoor areas — welcome news across the country where an ongoing heatwave is expected to push temperatures past 40 degrees Celsius in some southern areas this week.