MADRID (AP) — Spaniards removed their facemasks or stuffed them into their pockets for the first time in nearly two months after the country’s outdoor mask mandate was lifted Thursday. Italians face a similar treat Friday.

Both countries have high vaccination rates, declining infection numbers and lower hospitalization figures than during previous surges of the coronavirus.

Sara de la Rubia, a 45-year-old nurse in Madrid, said dropping the masks will be a moment to test the effectiveness of vaccines.

“There has to be a moment in which we have to normalize things, start to (have) a normal life, to test how things work,” she said.

After peaking in January, Spain’s contagion rate has been dropping for two weeks, alleviating pressure on hospitals and encouraging authorities to relax some of the measures adopted in mid-December against the fast-spreading omicron variant of the coronavirus.

In the Spanish capital's busy shopping district of Callao, many still wore masks on Thursday morning. Among them was Julio García, who welcomed the chance to get rid of the mask but said that he was choosing to remain cautious.

“It’s a very personal decision,” said García, who is 27 and unemployed. “Not just for me, but also to protect my family, I prefer to take care of myself most of the time, although sometimes I drop my guard.”

Under the new rules, schoolchildren will not be required to wear masks during their breaks between classes. But masks remain mandatory in indoor public spaces, including public transportation, and when people are unable to keep a safe distance of 1.5 meters (4 feet) between them.

A skyrocketing pace of new infections since late October peaked on Jan. 21 at 3,418 per 100,000 residents over two weeks, an all-time pandemic record, although experts think official Health Ministry figures do not reflect the complete picture given that many infections were confirmed with home testing kits and not reported to authorities.

The slowdown in contagion has continued, with the 14-day figure dropping on Wednesday to 1,693, from 1,894 the day before. Occupancy of COVID-19 hospitals has dropped to less than a fifth of total capacity and there are more patients being released from intensive care treatment at the moment than being admitted.

Other European countries are also relaxing their pandemic measures, as more and more governments design protocols to co-exist with the coronavirus.

Italians may also go outdoors without masks starting Friday, with nearly 30% fewer new cases in the last week. The Italian government is discussing lifting the state of emergency on March 31 and, together with it, the indoor mask mandate that was put in place at the beginning of the health crisis.

Authorities in Spain and Italy credit their strong vaccination rates — in both countries about 82% of the population has had two doses of vaccine — for a lower hospital admission rate of COVID-19 patients than in previous infection surges.

Italy has officially recorded nearly 150,000 deaths linked to COVID-19 and Spain just over 95,000.

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MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippines lifted a nearly two-year ban on foreign travelers Thursday in a lifesaving boost for its tourism and related industries as an omicron-fueled surge eases.

Foreign travelers from 157 countries with visa-free arrangements with the Philippines who have been fully vaccinated and tested negative for the virus will be welcomed back and will no longer be required to quarantine upon arrival. The government also ended a risk classification system that banned travelers from the worst-hit countries.

“We will begin the next chapter in the road to recovery,” Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat said. She added the border reopening would restore jobs and generate revenue across tourism-related enterprises and communities.

British tourist Ian Collins said at the airport arrival lobby that he flew back after two years because he “absolutely loved" the Philippines and wanted to reunite with Filipino friends. “It's just a wonderful country. I'm so glad that you're open again," the 60-year-old Collins told The Associated Press.

More than a million Filipinos lost their jobs in tourism businesses and destinations in the first year of the pandemic alone, according to government statistics. Tourism destinations, including popular beach and tropical island resorts, resembled ghost towns at the height of pandemic lockdowns, and a volcanic eruption and typhoons exacerbated losses.

The reopening had been set for Dec. 1 but was postponed as the highly contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus spread.

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MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities on Thursday reported nearly 200,000 new confirmed coronavirus cases, in another record fueled by the rapid spread of the omicron variant amid a low vaccination rate and the absence of major restrictions for adults.

The state coronavirus task force tallied 197,076 new infections over the past 24 hours, some 14,000 more than the day before and twice as many as two weeks ago. The task force also reported 701 deaths. While infections have soared, daily fatalities in recent weeks have remained steady between roughly 600 and 700.

The highly contagious omicron variant accounts for 60% of current infections, according to Anna Popova, head of Russia's public health agency Rospotrebnadzor.

Despite the surge, Russian officials have resisted imposing any major restrictions. Moreover, the government recently lifted the seven-day self-isolation restrictions for those who come into contact with COVID-19 patients. Mandatory isolation for those who test positive for the virus has also been cut from 14 to seven days, and the requirement to have a negative test to end isolation has been scrapped.

Russia has had only one lockdown, for six weeks in 2020, and in October 2021 many people were ordered to stay off work for about a week. But beside that, life in most of the country remained largely normal.

In recent weeks, a growing number of Russian regions have started introducing restrictions for those under 18, as officials noted that the current surge is affecting children much more than the previous ones. In many areas, schools have either switched to remote learning or extended holidays for students. In St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city, minors have been temporarily barred from most public places.

Russia started vaccinating children aged 12-17 only last month with the domestically developed Sputnik M jab. According to media reports and social media users, only small amounts of the vaccine for teenagers have been made available.