On Tuesday morning, Italian President Sergio Mattarella laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, in the presence of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and other top officials.

Then the Air Force acrobatics team – the Frecce Tricolori – flew in formation over the capital, leaving smoke trails in the colours of the Italian flag: green, white and red.

This year, from May 25, the Frecce Tricolori have flown over the capitals of Italy’s 20 regions in what the Air Force called “a symbolic hugging of the entire nation with the three-colored smoke in a sign of unity, solidarity and recovery”.

“One of the crucial principles of acrobatic flight is that of flying together while maintaining the right distance,” the Air Force said in a statement.

“This principle can become a metaphor for ... our daily lives now: distant, but united.”

The Frecce Tricolori also flew over the town of Codogno, in the northern region of Lombardy, where the pandemic first broke out on February 21 and where the first red zone was set up.

Instead of participating in the traditional military parade in Rome, which was cancelled this year due to the health crisis, Mattarella on Tuesday travelled to Codogno to “pay tribute to all the victims and to bear witness to the courage of all Italians” in the face of the virus.

He met with local and regional officials and visited the local cemetery, where he laid a wreath for those who have died from the virus.

Back in the Italian capital, Mattarella attended a concert in honour of the victims of the pandemic at the Lazzaro Spallanzani Hospital, which houses the National Institute for Infectious Disease (INMI) and which is on the frontlines in battling the virus.

In a televised speech to the nation on Monday evening, Mattarella said that “many of us hold the heartbreaking memory of those who passed away due to the coronavirus: relatives, friends, colleagues”.

The president said Italy is fighting “an invisible enemy” which has “disrupted our lives ... and placed the productive structure of our country under enormous strain”.

More challenges lie ahead in the “reconstruction” of the country in the wake of the pandemic, Mattarella said, adding “we are not alone”.

Mattarella also warned the pandemic is far from over, a day after a top Italian doctor sparked international outrage by claiming that the virus no longer “exists” in the country.

Still traumatised but eager to return to normal life and to revive the economy, in particular the tourism sector, Italy has been gradually loosening restrictions since the beginning of May.

Shops, cafes and terraces have reopened, as have the vast majority of monuments and tourist sites including Saint Peter’s Basilica, Pompeii, the Colosseum, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the cathedrals of Milan and Florence and the Vatican Museums.

As a final step in lifting the restrictions, borders will reopen to foreign tourists on Wednesday and Italians will once again be allowed to move freely between the country's regions.

The government has insisted this is one of the most dangerous phases of the pandemic and has urged people to adhere to social distancing rules and wear masks to prevent the virus from spreading once again.

Italy’s official coronavirus death toll stands at 33,530, while around 234,000 people have tested positive for the virus.