It comes as World Health Organisation director Matshidiso Moeti said the African continent is moving to the "control phase" of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Both Spain and Italy have high vaccination rates, declining infection numbers and lower hospitalisation 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 normalise 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 Omicron variant.

In the Spanish capital's busy shopping district of Callao, many still wore masks on Thursday morning.

Among them was Julio Garcia, 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 Garcia, 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 metres between them.

A skyrocketing pace of new infections since late October peaked on January 21 at 3418 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 1693, from 1894 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 governments design protocols to co-exist with the coronavirus.

Italians may also go outdoors without masks starting on Friday, with nearly 30 per cent 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 per cent of the population has had two doses of vaccine -for a lower hospital admission rate of COVID-19 patients than in previous infection surges.

Increased vaccination rates will also be crucial in helping Africa live with the disease, Moeti said.

"Although COVID-19 will be with us for the long term, there is light at the end of the tunnel," she said.

"This year we can end the disruption and destruction the virus has left in its path and gain back control over our lives."

Africa is heading toward "what might become a kind of endemic, living with the virus... I believe that we are transitioning from the pandemic phase and we will now need to manage the presence of this virus," she said, addressing reporters at a virtual media briefing on Thursday.

"Over the past two years, the African continent has gotten smarter, faster and better at responding to each new surge in cases of COVID-19," Moeti said.

"Against the odds, including huge inequities in access to vaccinations, we've weathered the COVID-19 storm with resilience and determination... but COVID-19 has cost us dearly, with more than 242,000 lives lost and tremendous damage to our economies."

Moeti's optimism contrasts sharply with the warnings from WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who has said it is premature for countries to think that the end might be imminent.

Australian Associated Press