In several countries, including Israel, Japan, Denmark, students have started to return to school.Xinhua News Agency / Contributor / Getty Images
- Schools across the globe have closed to stem the spread of the coronavirus, impacting 1.4 billion students.
- In a handful of countries, including Israel, Japan, Denmark, and China, where risks have declined, schools are beginning to reopen.
- Schools are taking a number of precautionary measures, such as mandatory temperature checks, holding classes outside, and spacing desks and tables apart.
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When the coronavirus pandemic hit, schools across the globe closed their doors to help slow the spread of the disease, a decision that has impacted 1.4 billion students worldwide.
It will still be months before schools reopen in many countries. But in a handful of places, where infection rates have dropped significantly, schools are starting to hold classes again. They're taking a number of precautionary measures to do so safely.
On Sunday, school reopened in Israel for children with special needs, students in first through third grade and juniors and seniors in high school. Classes were already underway in Norway, Japan, Denmark, China, and Taiwan.
Children went back to institutions that have adjusted to a new reality. Staff members are taking students' temperatures at the door. Some schools have closed playgrounds, and are spacing desks in classrooms a safe six feet apart. When possible, teachers are holding lessons outside and in small groups.
In the US, many schools will remain closed for the year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued preliminary guidelines, which include closing cafeterias, canceling sporting events, and field trips.
The US, and other countries, will likely also take cues from Denmark, Japan, Norway, China, Israel, and Taiwan. Here's what they're doing to keep their students safe.
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Children sanitize their hands and footwear before entering the building
A new student use hand sanitizer gel as he arrives to attend a welcome ceremony of new academic year at a jouken elementary school on April 7,2020.
Buddhika Weerasinghe / Contributor / Getty Images
Staff with underlying health conditions and those who are over 65 are being asked to stay home
EMMANUEL DUNAND / Contributor / Getty Images
Staff disinfect toys and classrooms twice a day
A picture taken on April 14, 2020 in Copenhagen shows a classroom at a school on the eve of its reopening after the Covid-19 lockdown, for the pupils from first to fifth grade, in Gladsaxe, Denmark.
LISELOTTE SABROE / Contributor / Getty Images
In Norway, staff members at schools are expected to disinfect classrooms and toys twice a day to stem the spread of the virus, according to the Guardian. Children are no longer allowed to bring in toys from home, and schools have banned toys that can't be easily wiped down, like stuffed animals and dolls.
In Israel, children are not allowed to check books out of school libraries, share food, borrow pencils or pens from other students, or play games where touching is involved.
Students are returning in phases and schools have staggered drop-off times
Reuters
Some schools have rooms to isolate students who have fever
A teacher checks the temperature of a student at the Primary School attached to Southwestern University of Finance and Economics in Qingyang District of Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, April 27, 2020.
Xinhua News Agency / Contributor / Getty Images
Class and play group sizes are smaller now
Reuters
In some cafeterias, students are assigned seats and tables are spaced at least three feet apart
Students have lunch at Shaanxi Normal University Jinyuan Primary School in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 27, 2020. Primary school students in grades 4 to 6 in Xi'an returned to school on Monday.
Xinhua News Agency / Contributor / Getty Images
At some schools in Shanghai and Beijing, students are assigned seats in the cafeteria and the tables are spaced at least three feet apart, Taiwan News reported.
In other schools, cafeterias have closed, and students eat in their classrooms. In its preliminary guidelines, the CDC has made the same recommendation for US schools.
Children are required to wash their hands every hour and wear masks
A pupil washes their hands at the Korshoejskolen Public school in Randers, Denmark on April 15, 2020.
BO AMSTRUP / Contributor / Getty Images
In Denmark, schools have installed handwashing stations outside of the buildings and students have to wash their hands at least once an hour.
Some schools in Taiwan have required students to wear masks at all times, according to Taiwan News.
Second and third graders in Israel wear protective masks while in school, but not in the classroom.
Teachers are holding some classes outdoors and playgrounds are closed
Teacher Marie Kaas-Larsen speaks with her pupils of the Norrebro Park primary school outside in a nearby park in Copenhagen, Denmark on April 29, 2020.
THIBAULT SAVARY / Contributor / Getty Images
Students undergo temperature checks on arrival
High school students enter a tent set up at the entrance of their school to have their temperatures checked on April 27, 2020.
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In Japan, Taiwan, and China, staff members are taking students' temperatures before they enter school buildings. Children with fever are sent home.
In Beijing, students are required to fill out a survey on an app that calculates a person's risk of infection. Students may only enter schools if the app indicates that they are in good health.
Some students in Beijing were also given personal thermometers and are required to take their temperature twice a day while at school.
In Israel, parents have to sign a health form confirming that their child does not have the coronavirus. If a family member has the coronavirus, then the child is not permitted to go to school.
Desks are stationed six feet apart, and parents are no longer allowed inside school buildings
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen speaks with pupils as she participates in the reopening of Lykkebo School in Valby, after its lockdown due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread, in Copenhagen, Denmark April 15, 2020
Reuters
To reduce the risk of infection, students' desks in Denmark, Israel, and Norway are spaced six feet apart, which is the official recommendation for effective social distancing.
In Denmark, children enter through several different entrances to prevent crowding and parents are not allowed inside the school.
In eastern China, schoolchildren are given hats to wear that measure three feet across, to remind them to keep a safe distance from others.
In Israel, students are not permitted to have physical contact with peers or staff.