Italy allowed bookshops and children's clothing retailers to reopen on Tuesday but some business owners chose to stay shut, fearing it was too soon to lift the coronavirus lockdown, AFP reports.

Launderettes and stationery shops were also permitted to reopen on Tuesday as the government sought to gradually lift stringent lockdown measures imposed on March 9.

But not every shop owner rushed to reopen.

“Open in a desert? Why? A bookstore is a place where people interact — opening a business where no one walks by is dangerous from every point of view,” said Cristina Di Caio, a bookshop owner in Milan.

Italy is one of the world's worst-hit countries, with more than 20,000 deaths — the second most after the US.