Parents to Get Testing Kits to Check for Disease Before School Year Starts

In recent news, more than 7% of the citizens of the State of Israel, aged between 40 and 49 have received the booster shot of the coronavirus vaccine. These numbers were recorded on Sunday morning, just two days after eligibility to the cohort of this particular age group was announced by the Health Ministry in the country. 

Overall, around 1.38 million people have received the third shot, just three weeks after the government of Israel launched the booster shot campaign. This vaccination campaign was initially aimed at improving the immunity of Israelis aged over 60, who had been fully inoculated at least five to six months ago. 

The authorities are of the opinion that this vaccination campaign is eventually going to be the reason why Israel successfully curbs the rise in the number of cases, as well as serious morbidity. It will also help the country avoid imposing a lockdown throughout the state in the month of September. 

On Sunday, there were around 666 patients experiencing serious conditions. The growth appears to be steadily slowing down. Just last Sunday, the number of serious patients were 535, whereas two weeks earlier only 362 people had been recorded to be in serious condition. 

Later on Sunday, the coronavirus cabinet is going to have a meeting to give approval for a plan for the school year ahead. Ministers will also talk about postponing the start of classes. Usually, schools in the country start from the 1st of September. However, with the Jewish holiday starting from the 7th of September and celebrations falling on weekdays, there are many members who want the school year to be delayed. 

The outline to be discussed by ministers at the next meeting will include conducting regular tests of the coronavirus on students to diagnose new infections quickly. This will help the authorities figure out quarantine requirements and impose remote learning for secondary classes, specifically in red cities. In these particular cities, the vaccination rate is below 70%. 

All parents in the State of Israel will be provided with at-home coronavirus tests to see if their children have the disease, right at the start of the school year. The Prime Minister of the country, Naftali Bennett, made this announcement before several members of the government, just hours before the cabinet was scheduled to meet to approve the outline for the upcoming school year. The education system has decided to move ahead with the resumption of activities, despite the fourth wave of the deadly disease. 

The Prime Minister remarked that this move will ensure that infected students do not show up to class and cause the virus to spread further. Other primary points of the outline, developed by the health and education ministries, were mass vaccination, less time spent in remote learning, and personal responsibility. 

Bennett further stressed that the upcoming weeks are going to be delicate and critical and will indicate where the country is headed.