Students from 28 schools in Manila return to class Monday for the first time since the start of the pandemic, as the government expands its pilot reopening of schools amid the decline in Covid cases. Grade-schoolers from Ricardo P. Cruz Sr. Elementary School in Taguig City were greeted by their teachers with temperature checks, disinfection, and social distancing protocols. Many of them experienced the in-person class for the first time. Schools across the country were shut down since March 2020. A hundred schools in the provinces with low Covid cases were initially allowed to resume face-to-face classes last month and more schools were added to the list. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES