Hundreds of thousands of New Zealand children returned to school today after two months of home education as part of a Covid-19 lockdown.
Excited youngsters greeted classmates for the first time in eight weeks, while teachers reinforced messages about social distancing and hand-washing to combat the coronavirus.
Education Minister Chris Hipkins said the return to a noisy, bustling environment would be a "culture shock" after a challenging period for both children and parents.
"Our message is it's safe to send kids back to school, we want kids back at school and catching up with any learning that they've lost during the lockdown," he told reporters.
New Zealand, with a population of five million, has recorded 1,149 coronavirus cases and just 21 deaths, with its success largely attributed to a strict lockdown imposed in late March.
Most domestic lockdown restrictions ended last Thursday, but schools were given extra time because of the difficulty in implementing health protocols among the very young.
Instead of escorting their children to class, parents dropped them at "kiss and go" zones, while early childhood centres recorded personal details needed for contact tracing.
Laingholm Primary School in Auckland, New Zealand had 255 of their 286 students return today.
Teachers will meet students at the gates, with parents not allowed to enter the school grounds unless they have an appointment. All students when they return to school will return to their normal classes.
As part of the initial teaching programme, every teacher will talk the students through the new concept of 'ensuring everyone has room to breathe' to help students remember to maintain a reasonable distance between themselves and their classmates.
There will also be detailed discussions around effective hygiene practices, especially hand hygiene with sanitiser stations established in every classroom while shared water fountains around the school have been turned off.
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Summer weather is enticing much of the world to emerge from coronavirus lockdowns as centres of the outbreak from New York to Italy and Spain gradually lift restrictions that have kept millions indoors for months.
Up to yesterday morning, more than 4.64 million people have been reported to have been infected globally and 310,164 have died, according to a Reuters tally.
Australians urged to avoid rush hour virus crush in return to work
Australian officials planned to open pop-up parking lots and extra bicycle lanes in Sydney and other cities as the country's most populous state began its first full week on Monday of loosened lockdown measures.
New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian urged people to avoid peak-hour trains and buses as they returned to work to ensure that social distancing between commuters is maintained.
Australia's states and territories are beginning to allow more public activity under a three-step government plan after two months of shutdowns that officials have credited with keeping the country's exposure to the pandemic relatively low.
NSW, which accounts for around half of Australia's 7,045 Covid-19 cases, reported just one new infection in the previous 24 hours.
The state also reported one additional death, the first nationally in almost a week, taking the nationwide toll to 99.
"We normally encourage people to catch public transport but given the constraints in the peak and the fact we are exercising social distancing, we want people to consider different ways to get to work," Ms Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney.
"Places in and around the CBD, but also in employment hubs, will be investigated and more pop-up parking stations will be made available," she added.
For people still catching trains and buses, the government is ordering "intense and ongoing cleaning" across the public transport network, she said.
Neighbouring Victoria state, which along with NSW accounts for more than half Australia's 25 million population, reported six new cases of coronavirus in the 24 hours to Monday.
Twelve McDonald's Australia restaurants in Victoria were closed after a delivery driver tested positive for the illness, local media reported.
McDonald's Australia CEO Andrew Gregory was quoted in local media as saying the driver not symptomatic and no McDonald's diners were at risk of contracting the illness from the driver.
A row was brewing between NSW and its northern neighbour Queensland after the latter's leader, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said the state border could be closed until September.
Queensland reported two new cases over the past 24 hours.
In response, NSW's Ms Berejiklian said there was a benefit to retaining the national border closure only.
Meanwhile, Australia is joining dozens of countries pushing for an investigation into the origins of the new coronavirus when the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO), meets in Switzerland this week for its first annual meeting since the Covid-19 pandemic began.
The issue has led to a diplomatic spat with China and Foreign Minister Marise Payne said she was "very encouraged by the growing levels of support" for the inquiry.
US car industry to begin reopening plants in recovery from pandemic
The US car industry is slowly returning to life, with vehicle assembly plants scheduled to reopen today and suppliers gearing up in support as the sector that employs nearly one million people seeks to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCA) have been preparing for weeks to reopen their North American factories in a push to restart work in an industry that accounts for about 6% of US economic activity.
For the carmakers and their suppliers, many of which began reopening their plants last week, the restart is critical to ending the cash drain caused by a two-month shutdown that was forced on them by Covid-19.
The emphasis will be on getting assembly lines again producing such profitable vehicles as the Chevrolet Suburban SUV, Ford F-150 pickup truck and Jeep Wrangler SUV.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday will tour a Ford manufacturing plant in Michigan that has been repurposed to make ventilators and personal protective equipment, according to the White House.
The Kentucky Truck Plant, which builds the larger Super Duty pickups as well as the Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs, will restart with two shifts, while the nearby Louisville Assembly Plant, which builds the Escape and Lincoln Corsair SUVs, resumes with only one shift.
A Ford spokeswoman said plants that were running on three shifts before the shutdown will reopen with two, and those that were operating with two shifts will restart with one.
GM is reopening a number of plants on one shift on Monday, including 1,600 hourly workers making heavy-duty pickup trucks in Flint, Michigan, and 1,600 workers manufacturing pickups in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
The reopening will be a closely watched test of whether workers across a range of industries can return to factories in large numbers without a resurgence of infections.
Auto companies have rolled out a series of safety measures to protect workers, including the use of temperature monitors for those entering plants, personal protective equipment such as face masks and shields, revamped and deep-cleaned factory floors that emphasise social distancing and more.
The UAW union said one question will be how many workers punch in at his local's production facilities today given a lack of daycare in Kentucky, where schools are closed, as well as fear among those with underlying health conditions who are at greater risk of infection. They said Ford has been hiring temporary workers to cover for any absenteeism.
Another issue carmakers will have to watch closely is the financial health of suppliers. As most suppliers get paid on average 45 days after they deliver parts, some will struggle to stay afloat as the industry slowly reopens.
Russia's new coronavirus cases below 10,000 for third day in a row
Russia has reported 8,926 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours, pushing its nationwide case tally to 290,678.
The daily rise in cases was for the third day in a row below 10,000, a threshold that it has been above for much of May.
Russia's coronavirus taskforce said 91 people had died overnight, bringing the death toll to 2,722.
Climbing season at Mount Fuji cancelled due to coronavirus
The climbing season for Mount Fuji, Japan's highest peak, is cancelled for this year, after local officials announced today that the mountain trails leading up to the summit will stay closed throughout the summer due to Covid-19.
Shizuoka Prefecture, which manages three of the four trails that lead to the peak, made the announcement following a similar announcement made by a neighbouring prefecture that manages the fourth trail.
Shizuoka made the decision to keep the trails shut because "we cannot guarantee the safety of the climbers", as mountain lodges and first-aid centers will be closed to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, said Yoshinari Nushida, a section chief for the Mount Fuji public work office.
This is the first time since record-keeping started that Shizuoka did not open its trails for the climbing season, he added.
Located about 130km west of Tokyo, Mount Fuji rises to 3,776m (12,388ft) and attracts multitudes of hikers and tourists during its climbing season, which runs from July to September.
Some 236,000 people climbed the mountain last year,according to the Environment Ministry.
Japan has seen about 170,000 cases and 769 deaths from the novel coronavirus as of today.
The daily number of new cases has dropped in recent days, with new cases in Tokyo down to the single digits.
The government lifted its state of emergency last Thursday for most of the country, save for eight prefectures including Tokyo, but is still urging people to remain vigilant against spreading the virus.
Acropolis in Athens reopens after virus shutdown
Greece reopened the Acropolis in Athens and all open-air archaeological sites in the country to the public on Monday after a two-month closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A clutch of tourists and masked reporters gathered at the world-famous site, the most-visited monument in Greece.
President Katerina Sakellaropoulou was among the first visitors to the ancient Greek complex that sits on a rocky outcrop overlooking the capital and which had been closed since 23 March.
Culture Minister Lina Mendoni, journalists and employees - many wearing face masks - attended, as well as a few tourists, with measures to control the virus enforced.
Separation screens have been put up and the sites have been disinfected, the culture ministry said.
Visitors will be encouraged to wear masks - which will be compulsory for guides at the site - and guests will be asked to stay 1.5m apart.
Greece is dotted with dozens of temples, stadiums, theatres and citadels from Antiquity, including the Bronze Age Minoan palace of Knossos on Crete, and Olympus, cradle of the Olympic Games.
The Acropolis saw 2.9 million visitors last year, a 14.2% increase on the previous year.
But all museums will not be open until 15 June under the government's plan to gradually lift restriction to halt the spread of Covid-19.
