It has been decided not to reopen Israeli schools on Tuesday, and possibly not at all this week, after consultations held by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the Ministers of Health, Education, Defense and others with expertise on the spread of the UK variant of COVID-19.
“Consultations on the matter will continue,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
Netanyahu later told reporters during a joint briefing with visiting Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis,”We have a new pandemic; not in the pure scientific sense, this is a mutation which is very powerful and is at least 50 percent fatal. This is causing the world to collapse.
“We will carefully open the education system in the coming days in the yellow and green areas. We will open the rest gradually according to the new traffic light plan together with morbidity and vaccines as well.
“This will allow us to use the green passport to open the economy, commerce, culture and the rest of the education system but with caution,” Netanyahu said.
“Pursuant to my talks with the CEOs of Pfizer and Moderna, in April we expect to receive the results of the children’s vaccines and we will then be able to vaccinate the rest of the population. We can exit this, but carefully,” Netanyahu added.
Education Minister Yoav Galant told parents on Sunday night in a statement after the government cabinet meeting, “We are going to have to reassess the situation across the country, including the education system, in light of the grim picture presented by experts regarding the spread of the coronavirus.
“We are facing a difficult war against the coronavirus and together with the variants it is becoming more difficult,” Galant said.
“In this case we will do whatever it takes, and that may delay our return to school,” he continued. “I apologize for this; I understand your situation. [But] we have to overcome this disease and then we will do what is necessary,” Galant said.
Israel’s full cabinet is scheduled to reconvene later in the day on Tuesday to discuss plans to reopen the schools and a strategy for doing so.
At present the highly contagious UK variant of COVID-19 is placing the nation’s children at higher risk than they faced with the original SARS-CoV-2 strain of the coronavirus.
There were 4,560 new cases of the virus diagnosed on Sunday, out of some 50,000 tests that were carried out during the day, resulting in a 8.8 positivity rate.
Of those diagnosed, 1,121 were listed in serious and critical condition, including 316 who were being maintained on life support.
Israel’s COVID-19 death toll had reached 5,129 by Sunday night.