Coronavirus: Museums and cinemas reopen in Denmark as Belgium and Czech Republic also ease lockdown measures

Prague reopens border with Croatia and allows events of up to 500 people

Parents with their children stand in queue waiting to get inside Stengaard School north of Copenhagen, Denmark (Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Ima)

Denmark and other European countries relaxed a number of coronavirus lockdown measures on Monday, permitting a wider range of leisure and social activities as well as some limited travel.

The Danish government said it would allow the reopening of museums, cinemas, zoos and colleges from 1 June, and that a further easing of measures was expected in early August, which would include gyms, swimming pools and nightclubs.

In Belgium, Monday saw the introduction of an "expanded personal bubble", in which citizens are allowed to have contact with 10 people per week, while continuing to observe safety rules and social distancing.

The government there said it is aiming to reopen the country to foreign tourists by 15 June, and that it would hand out free train tickets to residents in an attempt to boost the economy.

The Czech Republic, meanwhile, has opened its border with Croatia and is allowing events of up to 500 people.

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Prague said it would also open up to foreign travel from next week and introduce a system classifying other countries according to the coronavirus risk there.

Nineteen mostly central, eastern and southeastern states will be in the least-risky category, while the UK will be put in its riskiest.

Britain, however, began on Monday to impose a 14-day quarantine on travellers coming into the country.

The sweeping measure will see all passengers – bar a handful of exceptions like lorry drivers and medical workers – asked to fill in a form detailing exactly where they will self-isolate for two weeks and give a phone number so authorities can check up on them.

The requirement applies regardless if they are citizens or not.

Additional reporting by AP