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IN PHOTOS: Schools start to reopen in Italy after six-month closure

AFP/The Local
AFP/The Local - [email protected]
IN PHOTOS: Schools start to reopen in Italy after six-month closure
A pupil waves to his family as children arrive at school in Rome on September 14th, 2020. All photos: Vinzenzo Pinto/AFP

Millions of Italian children returned to the classroom on Monday as many schools reopened - more than six months after they were closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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Although many Italian schools have postponed reopening, roughly 5.6 million students from a total of eight million went back to school on Monday with new rules and restrictions in place.
 
 
All photos: Vinzenzo Pinto/AFP
 
Italian Prime minister Giuseppe Conte admitted on Sunday that Italian schools faced a difficult situation, including a lack of teachers, single-seat desks, and
face masks.
 
"There will be difficulties and inconveniences, especially in the beginning," Conte wrote on Facebook.
 
 

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With the country registering more than 1,500 infections a day, Conte urged youngsters to "do their part".
 
"You have to commit yourselves to the rules of caution that will allow you to protect your health and the health of the
people you love," he said.
 
 
All photos: Vinzenzo Pinto/AFP
 
Seven regions including Puglia and Calabria have postponed reopening until September 22nd or 24th over concerns they were not ready
to meet all the new requirements.
 
And many local authorities within those regions set to reopen on Monday also chose to keep schools closed until later in the month.
 
 
All photos: Vinzenzo Pinto/AFP
 
Italian officials said the back-to-school strategy involved immediate quarantine of those "in close contact" with a student or teacher testing positive.
 
After a positive result, pupils will be allowed back to school only after returning two negatives, carried out a day apart.
 
 
A sign outsie a school in Rome reads: "Together we will make it. School at last." All photos: Vinzenzo Pinto/AFP

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