NEW YORK: New York City schoolchildren are back to school again, weeks after the schools were closed to in-person learning because of rising coronavirus infections.

The city's public school system was shut down in-person learning earlier this month, will bring back on Monday preschool students and children in kindergarten till fifth grade whose parents chose a mix of in-school and remote learning. Special education students in all grades who have particularly complex needs will be welcomed back starting Thursday. , Mayor Bill de Blasio has said middle school and high school will remain all remote at least until after the holiday break. De Blasio announced that public school buildings would close because the city had crossed a threshold set. The rate of positive tests is now over 5 percent, according to the city's figures, still, de Blasio has said it's safe to reopen schools with beefed-up testing protocols in part because few infections have been linked to the schools.

De Blasio announced on November 29 that school buildings serving younger children and special-needs students would reopen with coronavirus testing increased from monthly to weekly. Masks and social distancing are required at all city schools. Children whose parents chose the hybrid model were previously inside physical classrooms from one to three days a week, but de Blasio said some students will now be in their school buildings five days a week.

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