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| - Ski resorts in northern Italy's Lombardy region, the epicentre of the start of the coronavirus outbreak in Europe, will reopen from February 15, authorities said on Wednesday. It is the first time in the current winter season that skiing will be allowed in Italy, after weeks of coronavirus-related closures. The decision came after favourable advice from the expert panel that advises the central government on the pandemic. Their approval was conditional to a number of precautions to limit crowding on mountain slopes, including a cap on ski pass sales. In Lombardy, the daily number of skiers will be limited to no more than 30 per cent of the hourly capacity of cable cars and ski-lifts. Skiing could resume next week in other regions, as long as they remain in the lower virus-risk "yellow" areas. The health ministry can change regions' risk colours based on data from a weekly monitoring report issued on Fridays. All of the country is currently "yellow," except for South Tyrol in the north, Umbria in the centre, and Puglia and Sicily in the south. Italy is still in the throes of the pandemic, with several experts cautioning against reopenings. Over the last 24 hours, nearly 13,000 people have tested positive for the coronavirus, and 336 people died from Covid-19. The latest figures brought total infection numbers to almost 2.67 million, and the overall death toll to 92,338. aa/har
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