Lithuania to ease coronavirus lockdown measures this week

VILNIUS, April 22 (Reuters) - Shops, open-air restaurants and many other services will be allowed to reopen in Lithuania in an easing of restrictions imposed last month to limit spread of the novel coronavirus, the government said on Wednesday.

"Due to the strict restrictions, Lithuania avoided a sharp increase of COVID-19 cases which was seen elsewhere in Europe, such as in Italy, Spain, Great Britain," Lithuania's public health authority chief said in a letter to government.

Shops and malls can resume operations from Thursday and customer service businesses, such as hairdressers, libraries, museums and golf courses, can restart from April 27, according to the government website.

Businesses will need to limit numbers of customers on their premises to no more than one person per 10 square meters.

However, the government said it had delayed a full lifting of lockdown measures to May 11 from April 27.

All shops, restaurants and customer-facing businesses were told to close on March 16, with exceptions for takeaways and services over the internet, and for crucial businesses such as grocery shops and gas stations. All educational institutions and non-emergency medical services were also closed.

By Wednesday morning, the Baltic country had reported 1,370 coronavirus cases and 38 deaths from the COVID-19 lung disease. (Reporting By Andrius Sytas; Editing by Johan Ahlander and Mark Heinrich)