The show must go on: Hard-hit Italy welcomes school pupils back to the classroom

Students require temperature tests as Europe addresses the need to continue children’s education

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  Caretakers check the temperature of students at the entrance of the Italo Calvino school in Turin. From January 7 primary school and secondary school students are returning to school with 50% capacity. AFP

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  A child gestures after she and other middle school children returned to the classroom at the Cesare Piva school in Rome. Reuters

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  Students enter in the Italo Calvino school in Turin. AFP

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  Middle school children listen to the teacher after returning to the classroom at the Cesare Piva school in Rome. Reuters

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  A student paints graffiti on pictures of Minister of Education Lucia Azzolina and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte pasted on a wall at the entrance of a school in Turin. AFP

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  Students hold a banner reading 'School left without money and without security, we protest to take back our future!' at the entrance of a school in Turin. AFP

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  Middle school students return to class after the Christmas holidays at Tommaseo School in Turin. EPA

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  Middle school students make their way to Tommaseo School in Turin, Italy. EPA

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  Students gather outside Tommaseo School in Turin. EPA

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  Temperature checks are carried out at Tommaseo School in Turin. EPA

Students are returning to their classes in Italy as the country tries to open up after coronavirus lockdowns.
In an eerie pandemic world, children queued alongside exterior walls to have temperature tests before being allowed into classes.
In most of the country middle school students were due back on Thursday with high school pupils returning on Monday, although some regions have different arrangements.
Some schools are operating at 50 per cent capacity with others at 75 per cent.
Italy's prime minister urged members of his coalition government to stay united as the country grapples with a public health emergency and an economic crisis.

Guiseppe Conte said: "These are massive, very demanding challenges."

It was essential to "reinforce the cohesion of the majority and the solidity of the government team", he said.

Italy reported 548 coronavirus-related deaths on Wednesday and 649 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 20,331 from 15,378.

A total of 178,596 swab tests was carried out in the past 24 hours, the ministry said, up from the previous day’s total of 135,106.

Italy has registered 76,877 Covid-19 deaths since the outbreak began in the country on February 21, the highest toll in Europe and the fifth highest in the world. The country has reported 2.2 million cases to date, the health ministry said.

Patients currently in hospital with Covid-19 stood at 23,174 on Wednesday, when there were 183 admissions to intensive care units, compared with 202 on Tuesday.

Pupils in Germany are in distance-learning classes with school buildings closed until January 31 at the earliest.

Parents will receive an extra 10 days annual holiday to help them look after children, with an additional 20 days for single parents.

"We must be especially careful now. We are in a new and extraordinary situation," Chancellor Angela Merkel said as her government tightened regulations.
France has been struggling to get people vaccinated and to contain its outbreak, and is expected to announce new restrictions and tightened curfews.