Almost all coronavirus outbreaks in schools were caused by the lack of compliance with quarantine regulations by individuals returning from abroad, and Israelis traveling to countries under a travel ban will start to be fined, Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said Monday.
Israel on Monday registered the highest number of daily cases since April, prompting the government to take measures to contrast the morbidity.
“Our first mission at the Health Ministry is to protect people’s health, but also our daily life, free and open, as much as possible,” Horowitz said in one of his first public statements addressing the situation.
Since most of the outbreaks were caused by the lack of compliance with quarantine requirements by individuals returning from abroad, the government focused on stepping up testing capabilities at Ben-Gurion Airport and enforcement of travel regulations during a meeting on the topic on Sunday night.
On Monday night, the ministry issued a recommendation to vaccinate 12- to 15-year-olds. Previously, they were able to do so if they chose, but there was no active recommendation.
“Regarding what is happening at Ben-Gurion Airport, I heard that in the previous government there were difficulties in cooperation between the relevant ministries, but not anymore,” Horowitz said.
The travel ban on countries considered to be high risk approved by the previous government did not come with any enforcement measures, he said, adding that in the next few days fines will be given to those who fly there.
The list currently includes Argentina, Brazil, India, Mexico, Russia and South Africa. Israelis who wish to visit them need to obtain permission from a special governmental committee.
“We, the government, will take strict measures to monitor Ben-Gurion Airport, manage the outbreaks and maintain public health,” Horowitz said. “But at the same time, and I also turn to the media here, there is no need to create unnecessary panic.”
Daily cases are at the highest in almost two months, but for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, Israel has registered no coronavirus deaths for a week.
Some 48 people tested positive for the virus on Sunday, and another 88 were identified on Monday as of 5:30 p.m. The last time such a number of new daily cases was registered was at the end of April. However, the figure remains extremely low compared with the thousands of people who were infected every day during the worst periods of morbidity.
The majority of new cases in the country are infected with the Delta variant, also known as Indian variant, which experts believe is some 60% more contagious than the British variant previously dominant in Israel, the N12 news site reported.
In addition, about one-third of new virus carriers were vaccinated. However, the Pfizer vaccine is said to be highly effective against the variant, especially in preventing serious forms of the diseases. Most new cases present no or mild symptoms, according to health authorities.
Six people have succumbed to the virus since the beginning of June. In the first three weeks of May, there were 24 deaths. At the peak of the pandemic in January, dozens of deaths were recorded every day.
The number of serious patients has also remained relatively stable. As of Monday morning, there were 24 people in serious condition; 21 were registered on Saturday. A month earlier, more than 50 patients were in serious condition, and in January, the number was more than 1,200 for several days.
Some 164 students and 16 teachers currently have the virus, or about half of the active cases in Israel. In addition, about 3,500 students and 100 teachers are in isolation.
As the result of an outbreak at a school in Binyamina, where at least 80 students and staff tested positive, the town was classed as yellow on Monday, according to the “traffic light” classification system. It marked the first time in several weeks that a municipality has shifted from green.
The traffic-light model was conceived by health authorities earlier in the year to decide how to allocate resources around the country, such as testing stations, and to determine how schools would function. A yellow designation currently does not carry practical consequences.
Following the outbreaks in schools, Defense Minister Benny Gantz decided to postpone the closure of the Ela unit, which has been in charge of epidemiological research and investigation efforts related to the coronavirus.
“The IDF and Home Front Command have evolved unprecedented capabilities in epidemiological tracing, capabilities that should be transferred to the Health Ministry at the end of the month,” Gantz said Monday during a meeting of his Blue and White faction. “However, I have instructed [the defense establishment] to prepare for the possibility that we will need to postpone passing on the torch.”
Also on Monday, the Health Ministry said Israelis can access a new coronavirus certificate for both vaccinated and recovered people that will be valid until December 31.