Parents, students and workers will have an easier time on their morning and afternoon commute beginning Wednesday – and if they want, they can also stop at the beach.
Beginning tomorrow, coronavirus restrictions on the number of passengers on buses will be lifted during peak hours, in the first decision made by new Transportation Minister Miri Regev. The move is meant to benefit the education system, the ministry said in a statement.
The buses affected by the new directive are those that run from 7 – 8:30 a.m. and 1 – 3 p.m. when children generally travel to and from school. Later this week, Regev’s office said discussions will be held to examine expansion of public transportation in general.
At the same time, the bathing season, which had been delayed from April 1, will start Wednesday with 136 beaches opening up across the country. The beaches must maintain “Purple Ribbon” status from the Health Ministry, requiring those who want to swim and lay out to keep a distance of two meters. Washrooms will be disinfected every hour and showers and other changing facilities will remain closed.
The Health Ministry originally said that beaches would open on June 1, but Interior Minister Arye Deri said that opening bathing season was “necessary,” and pushed for the Purple Ribbon compromise. According to his ministry, tens of millions of shekels will be allocated to coastal authorities to operate under these restrictions.
Since the number of coronavirus cases continues to decline, more is expected to start opening. On Tuesday, there were 3,074 active cases of the virus, among them only 39 patients who were intubated. Some 277 people have died. Going forward, restaurants and cafés will be permitted to reopen on May 27 after an agreement was reached between the Health Ministry and the Israel Restaurants Association, the association announced via a Facebook post. The sector has been one of the hardest hit due to the measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak. The government’s coronavirus exit strategy, announced in early May, initially provided for the reopening of restaurants and cafés at the end of May or mid-June.
According to the agreement, published by the Health Ministry, restaurants that hold 100 customers can operate at full occupancy. Larger restaurants can operate at 85% occupancy. Tables will need to be positions 1.5 meters apart and reservations will be recommended. Like businesses, restaurants will be required to maintain “Purple Ribbon” standards for hygiene and cleanliness. The Israeli Restaurants Association reported that there are 14,000 restaurants, bars and cafés that are expected to open. At the same time, many other facilities will open, as well: swimming pools, hotels (including dining rooms and hotel pools) and after-school activities and youth groups. Pools will be allowed to host one person per 10 square meters. All programs will operate under strict Health Ministry guidelines. Moreover, on Tuesday, banquet halls were told they could open for business on June 14. The owners of these facilities had gone on a hunger strike in protest of the restrictions that continued to be placed on them, costing many of them their businesses. “As one who has been starved for extended periods of time in the past… I sought to approve the opening of the halls,” Deri told owners. But he noted that there is still coronavirus “out there. I ask you to guard your health.”
Eytan Halon contributed to this report.
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