Countries ease coronavirus lockdown after months of lockdown

Iran cafes are on after 2 months

Restaurants and cafes reopened in Iran on Tuesday after over two months of closure due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Mohsen Farhadi, Deputy Health Minister, on Tuesday said that all the restaurants will restart their activities observing certain health protocols, reports Xinhua news agency.

Besides, the cafes will begin their services without offering tobacco, said Farhadi in a video press conference.

The use of 'hookah' is very popular in the Iranian tea houses and cafes.

Sri Lanka relaxes COVID-19 curfew in Colombo

Sri Lankan authorities said a curfew in capital Colombo and the outskirts of Gampaha will be relaxed on Tuesday. A statement from the President's Office said that curfew will now be effective in all districts of the country including Colombo for a shorter period of time daily, from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., as there are no new cases from past two weeks, reports Xinhua news.

Church of the Nativity reopens

Bethlehem's storied Church of the Nativity reopened to visitors on Tuesday, after a nearly three-month closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The church, built over the spot where Christians believe Jesus was born, was closed on March 5 as the first cases of the virus were reported in the West Bank.

The church is one of Christianity's most sacred shrines and the closure came ahead of the busy Easter holiday season that typically draws tens of thousands of visitors and worshippers.