The Health Ministry will likely examine the possibility of canceling the requirement of wearing masks indoors between the middle and end of June, provided that the data after the new openings starting on June 1 continue to be comforting, Executive Director of the National Coronavirus Task Force Tomer Lotan said on Tuesday.
Only 456 people were infected with coronavirus in Israel as of Tuesday, compared with 88,000 at the peak of the pandemic. Health Minister Yuli Edelstein announced on Sunday that he would not seek an extension of the regulations regarding the “green pass” and “purple ribbon” systems, which are due to expire May 31.
Businesses and venues around the country will be able to resume operating as they did before the pandemic, without social distancing requirements, limits on the number of customers, or the need for unvaccinated people to be tested, which will allow children to start going to movie theaters and hotels freely.
Lotan explained that the Health Ministry considered canceling the requirement for wearing masks indoors as the next step in reopening the country, but ultimately decided that removing the green pass and purple ribbon systems was a better choice.
“We felt that the burden these systems place on the economy is much more significant than the one on the individual who needs to wear a simple and cheap mask,” said Lotan.
After the country began reopening in February, the ministry insisted on lifting restrictions gradually, so that health officials could evaluate the effect of each decision.
“We have gone through a lot, including Purim, Passover and Lag Ba’omer, without negative consequences,” Lotan said. “This has given us confidence to move forward in a significant way. Since the number of cases has dramatically decreased, with only 25 to 30 new cases every day, we felt it was not necessary to maintain such onerous requirements on businesses. In addition, the fact that schools have been completely open since the end of Passover, and only a limited number of minor outbreaks occurred, has also encouraged us to open activities for children without the need for them to get tested.”
While there is no intention on lifting restrictions related to quarantine and borders, Lotan said that sometime after the new openings come into effect, the Coronavirus Task Force will likely consider also dropping the requirement to wear masks indoors.
“We don’t like to speak about dates, but I expect that we will need at least two weeks of data after June 1, and therefore we will look into the issue between the middle and the end of June,” he said.
According to Prof. Nadav Davidovitch, director of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev’s School of Public Health, the decision to give precedence to the green pass and purple ribbon abolition was correct.
“I think the time is right,” he said.
As for indoor masks, Davidovitch suggested a solution in two phases.
“I believe that the requirement of wearing a mask could already be canceled for situations, like in many workplaces, where the people who gather together are always the same and they are likely all vaccinated,” he said. “Such a case is very different from a grocery store or a bus, where all kinds of people randomly found themselves together.”
The main risk for Israel, Davidovitch noted, is represented by its borders.
“I’m concerned about the Palestinian Authority, where the vaccination rate is much lower, and about people entering the country through the airport or land borders,” he said, noting that travelers often do not comply with quarantine requirements, which are not strictly enforced.
“This shows the problems that emerge as a consequence of lack of integration between different ministries,” he remarked.
According to Davidovitch, it is important to start vaccinating children age 12-15.
“We have great data both about the vaccine safety and its efficacy,” he said.
The US Food and Drug Administration granted emergency authorization on May 11 to use the Pfizer vaccine for that age group.
The Health Ministry said on Tuesday that they are holding meetings with all relevant experts and collecting all relevant data from the Israeli health system as well as from the US, where 600,000 teens have already been inoculated.
A Health Ministry official said last week that while the Gaza war had delayed the process, a decision could be expected by the end of the month or at the beginning of June.