The first cohort of children are returning to school in Wuhan, China, where the first case of the new coronavirus was reported late last year.

Students in grade 12 and 9 at high schools in the Hubei province were allowed to return to class on Wednesday to study for upcoming exams in the summer.

Most grade 12 students already returned to school in March in other parts of the country.

All students returning to class had to do a coronavirus test and there will be measures to ensure social distancing, such as partitions in the school canteen, according to state media.