This archive report was first published on 27 April 2020.
As the world slowly begins to chart a path out of the pandemic lockdown, China's two most important cities, Shanghai and Beijing, have seen students return to school after more than three months at home.
On Monday, April 27, 2020, children in these cities went back to classes, marking a significant step towards normalcy in the country where the COVID-19 outbreak first emerged late last year.
According to China's Ministry of Education, students must have their temperatures checked at school gates and show 'green' health codes on an app that calculates a person's infection risk.
As the country begins to cautiously lift control measures, virus numbers in China have dwindled, although fears remain over a potential resurgence and cases imported from abroad.
Across the globe, more than 205,000 coronavirus deaths have been confirmed, with Italy and the United States being the hardest hit, accounting for over a quarter of the total deaths.
Despite the encouraging figures, leaders and experts remain divided on how quickly to revive shuttered economies while maintaining a delicate balance between freedom and safety.
Italy, for instance, has unveiled a plan to emerge from Europe's longest shutdown, with people expected to wear masks in public and observe social distancing measures when the country's current restrictions are eased on May 4.
Meanwhile, Britain's leader, Boris Johnson, was to return to work on Monday after being hospitalized by COVID-19, one of nearly three million people known to have been infected worldwide.
The pandemic has forced more than half of humanity into lockdowns to stop the virus from spreading, upending lives and tipping the global economy toward a recession not seen in decades.
