COVID-19: German football returns, Europe beaches reopen as lockdowns ease!

• There are also signs that countries are relaxing border controls imposed months ago to stop the spread of Covid-19.

Germany's Bundesliga became the first major European football league to return from coronavirus lockdown on Saturday, playing in empty stadiums as leisure-seekers across the continent flocked to newly reopened beaches.

The reopenings are a tentative step towards a return to normality in some of the countries worst affected by the pandemic, which has killed more than 307,000 people, infected over 4.5 million, wrought vast economic havoc and brought life to a halt.
There are also signs that countries are relaxing border controls imposed months ago to stop the spread of Covid-19.

Italy, for a long stretch the world's worst-hit country, announced on Saturday that EU tourists will be allowed to visit from June 3 and a 14-day mandatory quarantine period will be scrapped.

But as governments lift restrictions to boost their stagnant economies, there have been widespread fears of a second wave of infections. Such fears have delayed the return of team sport, and on Saturday all eyes were on the Bundesliga's opening games, which were played to vacant, echoing stadiums. In the French Riviera city of Nice, keen swimmers jumped into the surf. Parasols and sunloungers have popped up on coastlines in Italy and Greece, which opened its beaches on Saturday.