Greece restarts regular ferry services to the islands
Greece on Monday restarted regular ferry services to the islands, while restaurants and bars were also back open for business as the country accelerated efforts to salvage its tourism season.
Travel to the islands had been generally off-limits since a lockdown in late March, with only goods suppliers and permanent residents keeping access.
But the country's low infection rate in the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted the government to start the holiday season earlier than expected, on June 15, as other Mediterranean countries - including Italy, Spain, and Turkey - are grappling with more deadly outbreaks. Distancing regulations and passenger limits have been imposed on ferries and at restaurants, while state-run health services to combat new coronavirus cases are being expanded to the islands, with intensive care space being provided on five islands: Lesbos, Samos, Rhodes, Zakynthos, and Corfu, along with existing facilities on the island of Crete.
Millions of Australian students get back at school
Millions of children in Australia have returned to schools in the states of New South Wales and Queensland as numbers of COVID-19 patients in hospitals across the country fall.
The two states on Monday joined the less populous Western Australia and South Australia states and the Northern Territory in resuming face-to-face learning, instead of studying from home online.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Monday students and teachers had to observe one key message: Stay home if sick.
"We're not out of the woods yet. We have to take each day as it comes, each week as it comes and we keep our fingers crossed that Queenslanders will continue to flatten that curve," Palaszczuk said.
The remaining jurisdictions -- Victoria and Tasmania states and the Australian Capital Territory -- plan to send students back to school in stages through early June.
