Green Classrooms to Reduce Quarantines of Schoolchildren

A new set of regulations went into effect on Sunday to reduce the number of Israeli schoolchildren requiring quarantine for exposure to Covid-19.

In the Green Classrooms program, students ages 6-11, will no longer be required to automatically quarantine if someone in their class has tested positive for coronavirus. Instead, they will only have to undergo daily tests, including two PCR tests – for a week, and those who are negative will then be permitted to return to class, according to Ynet.

However, the permit applies only for school hours; after school the students will still have to quarantine.

The same regulations will apply to teaching staff exposed to a student with a virus.

Millions of home testing kits will be provided to parents.

The objective is to ensure the school year carries on normally in localities where morbidity is low, and will affect about 400,000 children in 1,431 schools.

In classes where at least four students were found to have been infected by the coronavirus, all other students will be required to quarantine, according to the government approved plan.

As of last week, of the more than 90,000 children under quarantine, only about 1,700 were actually infected by the virus.