Coronavirus: Gov’t to meet on schools Sunday as lockdown ends

The government is set to meet on Sunday to discuss the next steps in the exit strategy from the lockdown, including regarding educational institutions.After a month of reinforced lockdown, several restrictions are set to be lifted at 7 a.m. as the country saw a decrease in new cases and infection rate while over two million people had already received both coronavirus vaccines.Senior cabinet ministers met with the prime minister late Saturday night to discuss the recommendations that they would bring to the full government on Sunday for approval. Already it is understood that no schools will open before Tuesday.“We will come [to the cabinet] with health recommendations,” Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said Saturday night in an interview with N12.He said that the Health Ministry’s stance is to only open schools in green and yellow areas, leaving the majority of the nation’s children at home indefinitely.“We are looking to open schools with a minimum risk of raising the rate of infection,” Edelstein told N12. Though he said that the ministry was open to ideas for how to enable more schools to open, such as perhaps preschools in orange and red areas or based on the number of teachers who have been vaccinated, they have yet to find a good way.In the meantime, as of Sunday, the 1,000-meter restriction on traveling away from home will be abolished, nature reserves, national parks and outdoor archaeological sites will open, restaurants will be allowed to offer takeaways, one-on-one services and work-from-office for employees at companies that do not directly see the public will resume. Moreover, bed and breakfasts will be allowed to welcome nuclear families.

“It is good that the cabinet has accepted the recommendations of the Health Ministry and my recommendation, with only minor changes,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement immediately following the meeting, which lasted around 12 hours.“The lockdown will last until Sunday morning,” he continued. “I ask that the public take very strict care to follow the directives and to go and be vaccinated. The vaccines work. The more people who are vaccinated, with emphasis on the 50+ age group, the more we will be able to gradually, cautiously and responsibly open the economy.”The government also decided Thursday to keep the skies closed for at least another two weeks until February 21. That means that with few exceptions, Israelis cannot enter or exit the country.In addition, on Friday, the Ministerial Committee on Dealing with the Coronavirus Crisis voted to extend regulations on public transportation until March 6. The rules allow buses and trains to operate at only 50% capacity.The decision to extend the lockdown came against the backdrop of a steady but high rate of infection.Some 6,271 news cases were reported on Friday according to a Saturday night update by the Health Ministry. Out of the 82,545 tests administered, 7.8% of them returned a positive result – the lowest rate in several weeks.However, the number of patients in serious condition remained high at 1,124, 332 of whom were on ventilators. The figure is considered critical by health officials and experts in order to formulate an exit strategy from the lockdown, since the hospital’s system is still facing unprecedented pressure. The death toll stood at 5,057.As of Saturday night, over two million Israelis had received both shots of the coronavirus vaccine, and almost 3.5 million at least the first.When asked whether full restrictions would be back in place over Purim, which takes place this year on Friday, February 26, the health minister said, “Whoever wants to celebrate Passover with his [extended] family, should stay home for Purim.”

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