England: Children step back into the classroom as lockdown eases

Schools have reopened, nursing home rules have been relaxed and two people can now meet outside.

Millions of children stepped back into their schools in England on Monday for the first time in two months, ending a second extended stretch of home learning enforced as part of a lockdown to slow the spread of COVID-19. The resumption of classroom teaching marks the first move of the United Kingdom government’s four-stage plan to ease the national lockdown, which officials aim to lift entirely by late June. The reopening of schools comes as a relief to parents who have spent months juggling work and full-time childcare, but as the coronavirus continues to infect people, there are still health concerns.