Hong Kong schools can resume face-to-face classes in two phases on a half-day basis from September 23, Education Minister Kevin Yeung said on Monday, following a drop in the number of new Covid-19 cases in the city.

Addressing the media, the Minister said that students entering Primary Five, Primary Six, Form Five and Form Six in the new academic year, as well as those starting primary or secondary school and final-year kindergarten pupils, will be the first back on campus, reports the South China Morning Post (SCMP) newspaper.

They would be followed on September 29 by students from Form Two to Form Four, Primary Two to Primary Four, and younger kindergarten children, he added. International schools would follow a similar schedule to resume classes.

Earlier this month, education officials had said that on-site lessons for Hong Kong's 900,000 students at kindergartens, primary and secondary schools would be suspended until further notice for the new academic year, after teachers were asked to conduct online classes during the city's third coronavirus wave. As of Monday, Hong Kong reported a total of 4,802 cases, with 88 deaths.