Tears and excitement from students greeted teachers on the first day of school after seven months in Wuhan. However, parents and teachers warned that while Covid-19 has retreated, no one could afford to let down their guard.

The central Chinese city - where the global coronavirus pandemic began - allowed more than 2,800 educational institutions to start their new term on Tuesday, opening their doors to nearly 1.4 million students for the first time since January.

Outside the Wuluo Road elementary school, life has...