Ministers are expected to approve a further relaxation of coronavirus closure measures on Wednesday, which will increase the number of people allowed to gather in public and remove the requirement for some students to study in small groups at schools.
With the current restrictions expiring at midnight, the coronavirus cabinet, a panel that sets the policy for the management of COVID-19, will hold a vote by telephone in the evening on newly facilitated measures proposed by the Ministry of Health .
The Hebrew media reports include that the new measures, which are expected to take effect from Thursday, increase the number of people who may meet outside, from 50 to 100. The current limit of 20 people is expected to remain indoors.
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Cultural venues under the Green Pass program are also expected to accommodate up to 750 people, up from the current limit of 500.
The Green Pass is given to those who have been fully vaccinated or have recovered from the coronavirus, which provides access to public spaces that are not available to others.
People enjoy the artist Ivri Lider during a concert organized by the Tel Aviv Municipality in Bloomfield Stadium, 5 March 2021 (Miriam Alster / FLASH90)
Israel has significantly pushed back coronavirus restrictions over the past few months by opening businesses, meeting rooms and other activities, as disease rates have declined amid the country’s leading vaccination campaign.
In addition, ministers will apparently vote on Wednesday on lifting the requirements for some students to study in ‘pods’.
The pod system, which limits the number of students who can study together, should be canceled for classes in grades 11-12, with a vaccination rate of more than 65 percent of students, compared to the current requirement of 90%, Haaretz reports. It is also canceled for all schools participating in the “Education Shield” program, which requires students to undergo weekly coronavirus tests.
The move will ease the pressure on schools to provide separate classrooms for each group so that other students who are still partially learning from home can return to school more frequently.
But in a statement released Wednesday afternoon, Defense Secretary Benny Gantz, chairman of the Blue and White Party, said the proposed measures did not go far enough, demanding more full-time students. may go to school.
Despite initial expectations that pods would also be canceled for 4th graders, ministers were not expected to vote on the move on Wednesday, with the exception of the 1st to 3rd graders who returned to school without the pod system this week.
‘Immediate agreements must be reached between the Education Ministry and the Health Ministry on an outline based on the immediate [lifting of the pod requirement] of first-fourth grades for full-time studies, which will maximize the teaching power for fifth- and sixth-graders, ”Blue and White said in a statement, threatening to drop the current restrictions altogether if the proposal is not considered.
Israeli students go to Yad Mordechai school on March 7, 2021 (Flash90)
The easing of the restrictions comes because the infection rates are still declining among students as well as in the wider population.
According to data from the Ministry of Health, the infection rates on March 1 were six per 1,000 children. On April 4, the number dropped to just 0.5 per 10,000 children.
Recent infection rates show a steady improvement over the past two months, mainly due to the successful vaccination campaign. The success comes despite the fact that more infectious virus variants are multiplying and the restrictions are gradually being lifted.
According to the Ministry of Health, only 376 new patients were diagnosed on Tuesday, representing a positivity rate of 0.7% from more than 57,000 tests. The R rate rose to 0.78, compared to a low of 0.63 at the beginning of the week.
The total number of cases in Israel since the onset of the pandemic was 835,104 with 4,888 active cases. The death toll was 6,261.
Dr. Sharon Alroy Prize during an information session in January 2021. (video screenshot)
The ministry said on Wednesday that 5,286,023 Israelis had received at least one dose of vaccine and 4,878,839 had received both.
Despite the reduced infection rates, the head of public health in the Ministry of Health, dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis said on Wednesday that Israel is still “in the midst of a fight” against the pandemic, and warned of the need to remain vigilant.
Alroy-Preis said on the Ynet news website that there are “many external threats that could develop here” – an apparent reference to virus variants that could possibly circumvent the protection that vaccines offer.
And she added that “more than a third of the country has not yet been vaccinated … It is not behind us, it is not over.”
