A year and two months since the first Covid-19 case was reported, Italy is still battling the virus. However, things may just have begun looking up: this week, most of the country will be placed in the lowest-risk zona gialla, meaning cafés and restaurants will finally open for both lunch and dinner, albeit only outdoor. Cinema, theatres and museums will also open and, soon, it’ll be pools and gyms’turn.

The vaccination campaign, which started incredibly slowly in the month of January, has finally found a good, steady pace, with about 20 million Italians – 1/3 of the population — having received at least one dose. It could well be the beginning of a slow, and very fragile, path to normality, whatever “normality” may mean to each and every one of us after a year of pandemic.