Local Leaders Call for Ending Some School Quarantines

YERUSHALAYIM
Fןrst graders at school in Modi’in. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

Israeli officials on Tuesday were pressing for easements in coronavirus restrictions in the school system and the economy, The Times of Israel reported.

Approximately 180 mayors and leaders of local councils across the country signed a letter calling on the government to end mandatory quarantine for unvaccinated schoolchildren who are exposed to a COVID-infected individual but test negative.

“Children are not in a high-risk group,” the letter reads. “Don’t leave the education system behind.”

Only approximately 24% of 5- to 11-year-olds have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine, and just 12% have received two doses.

Last week it was reported that some 200,000 students and teachers in the public school system were at home due to quarantine measures.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman said that the Green Pass, which shows proof of vaccination to gain entry to some venues has no justification.

“There is no medical or epidemiological logic in the Green Pass, many experts agree,” says Liberman. “There is, however, direct harm to the economy, to daily operations and a not insignificant contribution to daily panic among the public.”

Liberman says he is working with “all the authorities” to get rid of the Green Pass and “maintain a normal life routine for all of us.”

A Green Pass vaccination card is valid following a booster shot or within six months of a second vaccine dose. Yet, according to available data, the Omicron variant is able to bypass the vaccine in many cases.

On Tuesday, the Health Ministry reported an increase in the number of people seriously ill with COVID, 498, up from 446 on Sunday evening. 135 patients were listed as critical, 100 on ventilators and 13 are hooked up to an ECMO machine.

 

 

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