[imagesource: Stefano Mazzola/Awakening/Getty Images]

Things are starting to feel slightly less post-apocalyptic as countries worldwide ease up on lockdown restrictions.

Italy was one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic, evident in videos and images of empty streets and overcrowded hospitals.

The COVID-19 pandemic has killed more than 34 000 people in Italy, but as the number of new cases steadily falls, the country continues the process of deconfinement that began last month.

Venice is welcoming tourists back, and is to some degree returning to its former glory, reports The Guardian.

With the exception of masks, pictures of the city show something that more resembles the Venice we knew before.

To put things into perspective, before we take a look at some of those images, here’s a quick drone tour of Venice when it was at the height of lockdown:

Bleak.

On to Venice as it is now:

Gondoliers are back in business
Image: Andrea Pattaro/AFP/Getty Images

A street seller prepares for the arrival of tourists.
Image: Andrea Pattaro/AFP/Getty Images

People relax in the sunshine in St Mark’s Square.
Image: Andrea Pattaro/AFP/Getty Images

An employee sets out chairs in the 18th-century Caffè Florian in St Mark’s Square.
Image: Andrea Pattaro/AFP/Getty Images

A delivery man arrives with the goods.
Image: Andrea Pattaro/AFP/Getty Images

Customers embark on a gondola ride.
Image: Andrea Pattaro/AFP/Getty Images

Tourists at the Doge’s Palace.
Image: Stefano Mazzola/Awakening/Getty Images

A gondolier approaches the Rialto Bridge.
Image: Andrea Pattaro/AFP/Getty Images

A waiter serves customers on the terrace of Caffè Florian
Image: Andrea Pattaro/AFP/Getty Images

Restaurants in South Africa will also be opening their doors, as we head into what they’re calling ‘advanced alert level 3’.

While tourists won’t be returning for a while, other elements of ‘normal’ will slowly reappear.

[source:guardian]