Austria plans to start reopening shops from next week

FILE PHOTO: Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz wears a protective face mask as he attends a session in the Parliament, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Vienna, Austria April 3, 2020. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger

VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria plans to reopen smaller shops from next week in its first step to loosen a lockdown that has slowed the spread of the coronavirus, as long as the public continue to observe the lockdown broadly, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Monday.

Kurz told a news conference that since Austria had acted earlier than most countries, that gave it the ability to reopen shops sooner as well.