Judith Burns
Education reporter

"You look like you’ve grown, Arthur," says teacher Catherine Hughes to a reception pupil who hasn’t been in school since March.

"Are you excited to be back?" asks Helen Frostick, head teacher of St Mary Magdalen’s Catholic School in West London, to another.

The school is expecting to welcome back 70 pupils who were last in school in late March, alongside 15 children of key workers who have been coming in throughout the lockdown.

The classrooms have been completely reorganised, with desks in rows, facing forwards, instead of pushed together into big tables.

There’s lots of hand-washing, and the windows are open to let in as much fresh air as possible to keep the virus at bay. Teachers are expecting a busy morning as children get used to the new regime.

Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has tested positive for coronavirus.

"I didn't have any symptoms, I decided to take a test as I was planning to visit the frontline," he said during a Facebook live video. He added that his whole family was infected.

Last week, Armenia saw its biggest daily spike in cases on Friday - 460 - but Pashinyan said his government was not thinking of a nationwide lockdown. He added that the government will continue to promote social distancing and other hygiene rules set out by health authorities.

More than 9,000 cases and 131 deaths have been confirmed in the country, external, which is home to around three million people.

Image source, Getty Images

The easing of lockdown is "not a dash" and the government is taking "cautious steps", says UK Business Secretary Alok Sharma.

Asked on BBC Breakfast about concerns voiced by some of the government's scientific advisers, he says: "Their overall view is that you must do this cautiously - that is precisely what we’re doing."

"What they’ve also said is that if people comply with the rules and the test and trace system is up and running, which it has been since Thursday, then there is a good likelihood that we will not reach the R value factor above one," he adds. The R number is the number of people that one infected person will pass the virus on to, on average.

He says easing restrictions is a "delicate balance" and that authorities will "take action" if parts of the country see higher levels of infection.

On the reopening of schools and businesses, he adds: "I’m confident that if guidelines are followed that people will stay safe."

When asked, he was not able to say how many people are being tested each day.

Image source, Getty Images

There have been concerns that protests in the US following the death in police custody of unarmed black man George Floyd could lead to a rise in Covid-19 cases.

More than 104,000 people have died in the US from the virus, and protests have taken place across the country.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti warned the protests could become "super spreader events", while Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms advised those attending to get tested this week.

Dr Theodore Long, who is leading New York's contact tracing strategy, also advised protesters to get tested. He encouraged people attending rallies to wear a mask, practice proper hygiene and socially distance if possible.

However Dr William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University, told the New York Times, external that as the protests were outside, the virus would be diluted somewhat. He noted that many of those taking part were young, meaning they are more likely to make a recovery if they contract the virus.

"There was literally a lot of running around, which means they’re exhaling more profoundly, but also passing each other very quickly," he said.

Katy Watson
BBC South America correspondent

Image source, EPA

In Brazil, there have been clashes on the streets of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro after protests both for and against President Jair Bolsonaro.

Over the weekend, Brazil overtook France in the total number of coronavirus deaths with nearly 29,000 people losing their lives.

Bolsonaro came out on a horse to join hundreds of supporters in the capital Brasilia. No attempt at social distancing - a display of defiance from the man who in the past has called coronavirus the sniffles.

The president's supporters are calling for military intervention and the closure of the Supreme Court. Tensions have been rising between Bolsonaro and the judiciary because of an investigation into political interference by the president.

Bolsonaro also accused the top court this week of censorship after it started looking into allegations of fake news and intimidation by his supporters.

Meanwhile in Sao Paulo, riot police threw tear gas – dispersing competing protests by Bolsonaro supporters and football fans from rival clubs marching for democracy.

The political chaos comes at a time when Brazil’s death toll keeps rising and infections are growing at an ever-faster rate. It’s a pandemic Brazil is struggling to control.

What will happen if someone has coronavirus in a school? Can you still go if you live with a vulnerable family member?

Schools in England have remained open throughout the lockdown for the children of key workers and vulnerable children, but from today millions more primary pupils will be invited back.

With that in mind, children have been sending us their questions - with BBC Education Editor Branwen Jeffreys on hand to answer.

(Schools in Scotland and Northern Ireland are due to begin reopening in August, and dates are still to be confirmed for Wales.)

Dan Johnson
BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

There is a big case of "wait and see" around sending children back to school, and that is what you hear from parents - who perhaps do not want to be the first to send their children back.

Most of the schools have been open throughout lockdown for the children of key workers and those who are vulnerable. The aim today is to take back in the youngest and oldest kids in primary schools.

But not every school is able to open its doors to more children today. There are councils around England that say their schools aren’t ready to do that yet.

It has been left to headteachers to manage this themselves. Unions estimate that only half of the kids eligible will return to take up their places today because of the worries of parents.

The practicalities of this are very difficult. We’ve seen schools have to reorganise the way they are laid out, the way people move around, introduce one-way systems, and reduce classes that would normally have taken 30 kids down in some instances to just five, to try and enforce social distancing on a group who may not always be able to manage it.

Image source, EPA

Today in Russia's capital, people will be able to take their first long walks outside their apartments in nine weeks.

Moscow's Mayor Sergei Sobyanin told President Vladimir Putin that he would relax lockdown rules in the capital, opening shopping centres and giving more freedom for people to leave their homes.

Previously, Muscovites were only allowed out to buy food, walk dogs or travel to essential jobs with a permit.

Car dealerships, dry cleaners, shoe repair stores, bookshops and launderettes are also set to open on Monday.

Residents are now allowed out for walks three times a week on designated days, assigned according to the address they live at. People can also do sports outside, but only between 05:00 (02:00 GMT) and 09:00.

Moscow is still seeing a number of new infections, however. More than 2,590 were reported on Sunday.

Russia has more than 400,000 reported coronavirus cases and more than 4,693 have died.

The president of the Association of Directors of Public Health England says she is "concerned" about more pupils going back to school in England because the five tests the government said were needed to ease restrictions "haven't yet been met".

"A lot of people, including local directors of public health across the country, are increasingly concerned that the government is misjudging this balancing act and lifting too many of the restrictions too quickly," Dr Jeanelle de Gruchy told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

She added that the R number - the number of people that one infected person will pass the virus on to - on average is between 0.7 and 0.9. While it is below 1, it leaves "very limited room for manoeuvre".

"We know how quickly this virus can spread. It is difficult to predict then, with quite a lot of the measures being relaxed all at once, what impact that will have on the R value," de Gruchy said.

Education is high on the agenda on the UK newspaper front pages.

The Guardian concentrates on a story about the number of children set to stay off school in England when classes resume for selected year groups on Monday.

The Daily Telegraph reports that some pupils will need to attend classes over the summer to stop them falling behind. The paper quotes the Children's Commissioner for England Anne Longfield, who is urging the government to set up summer camps for students.

Meanwhile The Times leads on a warning from travel firm bosses that the two-week quarantine due to be imposed on people arriving into the UK from 8 June will "destroy" the industry.

Image source, The Guardian

Image source, Daily Telegraph

Image source, The Times

Read more

Good morning, and here are some of the latest headlines:

• Primary schools in England are beginning to bring back more pupils but half of parents might not send in their children, surveys suggest.
• The Queen has been photographed riding in the grounds of Windsor Castle - her first public appearance since the coronavirus lockdown began.
• Open air markets and car showrooms will be allowed to re-open in England on Monday, with coronavirus-related measures in place.
• In Brazil, the number of confirmed cases has passed half a million, the second highest total in the world.
• Metro Manila, the capital region of the Philippines, has finally eased a lockdown that has been in place since mid-March. More people will be allowed to work and shops will reopen - though many restrictions are still in place
• The Chinese city of Wuhan - where the virus first emerged - reported no new asymptomatic cases on Sunday. China recorded 16 new cases on Sunday - all of which were imported - up from just 2 cases the day before.

A 100-year-old woman in Indonesia has recovered from Covid-19, making her the country's oldest survivor, local media report.

Kamtim, who goes by her first name, was discharged from hospital this week after being treated for a month in the country's second largest city, Surabaya.

"I hope her recovery can motivate elderly people during the pandemic," East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa said.

The woman's daughter-in-law told AFP news agency that her recovery was due to her "discipline and persistence".

"Every day I checked her condition with nurses and they always told me that she was very strong and diligent about taking her medicine," Siti Aminah said.

"She was very motivated to get better."

Indonesia has more than 26,000 confirmed cases and 1,613 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Image source, AFP/Getty Images

Image source, PA Media

The Queen has been photographed riding in the grounds of Windsor Castle - her first public appearance since the coronavirus lockdown began.

The 94-year-old monarch was pictured on a 14-year-old Fell Pony called Balmoral Fern over the weekend.

She regularly rides in the grounds of Windsor, which is said to be her favourite royal residence.

The Queen has been isolating there with her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, 98, and a small number of staff.

Read our full story here.

Virma Simonette
BBC News, Manila

As early as 4am this morning, we saw people on the streets - some were riding their bicycles and waiting for the buses provided by the government, but most were walking.

Cesar Casipi is a plastic factory operator who lives more than 10km (6.2 miles) from his workplace.

He does not own a car nor a bicycle, so he woke up an hour early to walk the two hours to work.

Cesar told us that after 77 days without pay, today, he is more than grateful to be going back to work.

But it’s a different story for Manuel dela Cruz, also a factory worker.

Manuel started walking at 3am. After an hour, he ended up at a train station. Though he wants to save his money, he decided to queue and ride the train to spare himself from exhaustion.

He told us that he fears for his safety in this uncertain situation, but does not have any choice but to go to work instead of letting his family starve.

While most are going back to work today, jeepney drivers like Julius Evangelista are not among them.

Image source, Getty Images

After failing to pay rent, Julius and his family have been living inside their jeepney for more than two months now. They have been begging people for food or money.

Over the weekend, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said it would be difficult to practice physical distancing inside jeepneys, so that’s why these iconic and hugely popular little buses won't be back on the roads yet.

South Korea on Sunday reported 30 local infections - 24 of which have been traced to churches in Gyeonggi Province outside the capital Seoul, says a Yonhap report., external

The country is still grappling with cases linked to a logistics centre in Bucheon, a city near Seoul. Authorities say at least 112 infections have been linked to the logistics facility.

There are now concerns that the church-linked gatherings could lead to a new cluster.

It was a religious sect, known as the Shincheonji Church, that led to South Korea's biggest virus cluster in February. Thousands of cases were later found to be linked to a Daegu branch of the sect.

The country later moved to close churches - but they were reopened earlier last month as the country appeared then to have successfully contained the virus.

Image source, Getty Images

In the short term, there will be many immediate changes so that workers can socially distance from each other. Longer term, the coronavirus pandemic will reshape the future of architecture, office design and communal workplaces.

Image source, Priya Kuriyan

Cartoonist Priya Kurian has drawn a series of pictures showing how masks became the new normal across India - even before a stringent lockdown was put in place on 25 March.

Kurian says her art was inspired by her neighbours, as well as people she saw at the airport when she took a flight from the southern city of Bangalore to visit her friend in the eastern city of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta).

This was before masks were made mandatory and flights grounded. However, the threat of Covid-19 had just begun to emerge so some people had already begun wearing face coverings as protection.

"At that point, we had no idea of the disarray the next few months would bring," she says.

• Click here to see more of her illustrations

Image source, Priya Kuriyan

North Korea plans to reopen schools as early as this month, according to a Yonhap news report quoting state media. , external

Schools in North Korea were reportedly due to open in early April, but school holidays have been repeatedly extended, though a handful of colleges and high schools were allowed to open in mid-April.

According to the North's state radio, "preventive measures" have been put in place so elementary, middle and high schools can start their semesters and nurseries and kindergartens can begin resuming operations in "early June".

The report said hand sanitisers would be provided in all classrooms, as well as thermometers.

North Korea still claims to have no virus cases in the country, though experts have said this is extremely unlikely.

Image source, Getty Images

Will Grant
Mexico and Central America correspondent, BBC News

Image source, AFP/Getty Images

Mexico is taking its first steps to reopen from 1 June with a number of industries permitted to return to work.

They include car-part manufacturing plants and construction as well as beer factories and bike shops. However, the decision has been criticised as too hasty by some scientists who say the outbreak is still at its most acute in Mexico.

Almost 10,000 people have died from Covid-19 in Mexico. Meanwhile, the country’s president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, is due to embark on a tour of the nation.

President Lopez Obrador has defended his tour, saying he is not waiting to travel "because we must begin the new normal, while continuing to take care of ourselves".

Several top scientists have criticised the move as misjudged, among them the man who led the response to Mexico's A/H1N1 influenza outbreak in 2009. Alejandro Macías Hernández told the BBC: "It is not a good message that the first actions be presidential trips when we’re still locked down."

But the start of reopening is welcome news for many in Mexico's stricken economy. As many as a million jobs may have been lost through Covid-19 and the economy is expected to contract by as much as 9% this year.

Japan is considering relaxing its entry ban on visitors from Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, and New Zealand, according to sources quoted in local media.

An unnamed government official told Kyodo News that these four countries have low infection rates and strong business ties with Japan, external. However, there's been no confirmation from the country's foreign ministry.

Japan, which has a ban on 111 countries and regions, including the US and Europe, barred overseas visitors in February to curb the spread of coronavirus.

On Monday, businesses will fully reopen and schools will resume classes in many of Japan's 47 prefectures. Some restrictions remain in place in Tokyo and six other prefectures.

Japan has confirmed nearly 17,000 infections and 898 deaths, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.