Portugal’s lockdown, which shut most non-essential services last month to contain the spread of the coronavirus, will be lifted from May 3 but the reopening of the economy will be a slow and gradual process, Reuters quoted the country’s president as saying.

“What matters in this new phase is that the Portuguese know that containment remains important so we must take small steps and constantly evaluate (the situation),” President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa told a news conference.