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Some schools in Japan that had temporarily closed amid a nationwide effort to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic opened their doors to students on Thursday.
The reopening of the schools came despite the nationwide state of emergency being extended through the end of May by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The decision to reopen the schools was made by the local boards of education as the government has permitted some prefectures that are not under a special alert to ease some of the restrictions put in place under the nationwide state of emergency that was first declared last month before being extended.
However, some parents are concerned over the schools reopening Thursday, saying the children are still at risk of catching the pneumonia-causing virus as they are unable to consistently maintain social distancing rules in a school setting, according to local media accounts.
"Schools are precisely the kind of locations people have been advised by the government to avoid," one father of two elementary school pupils in western Japan was quoted as saying, adding that the situation was confusing.
The first schools so far to reopen their doors to children have been in Aomori and Tottori prefectures, with local media reporting that at one elementary school in Tottori prefecture, around 140 elementary school-aged pupils attended classes for the first time since April 27.
Teachers were seen greeting the pupils before they entered the premises and asking the children about their temperatures and how they were feeling.
Pupils who hadn't had their temperature taken prior to arriving at the school would be immediately checked and those with a fever would be swiftly taken home by parents and recommended to see a doctor, one school said.
The school said that pupils would be required to wear masks at all times, wash their hands often and gargle, with lessons taking place in well ventilated classrooms.
In Aomori prefecture, the local government decided to reopen 76 schools. While some parents remained concerned about the potential for the virus to spread, some pupils said they were happy to be able to see their friends again.
One senior high school student at a school in Aomori told local media that while studying would be hard, the reopening of the school was a good thing as "I can see my friends again."
