Israel’s Health Ministry confirmed 7,761 new coronavirus cases in the previous 24 hours on Tuesday morning, with tests showing a positivity rate of 8.8%, raising the total number of virus cases since the start of the pandemic to 700,479. There are currently 1,088 virus patients hospitalized in serious condition, with 306 ventilated. The death toll has risen to 5,192. The number of children diagnosed with the coronavirus has risen by 400%, according to a Kan News report on Monday. The high infection rate in children and teens is of great concern to health officials, who fear that reopening the educational system will have dire consequences. Health officials told ministers that reopening schools could spur a rapid coronavirus outbreak among children and teens. “We’re concerned about opening schools in orange and red zones with high morbidity,”  said Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, the head of the Health Ministry’s Public Health division. “There were outbreaks in schools prior to the lockdown. One child would get ill and dozens more would follow. We don’t want to leave the children at home, but the risk in high-infection areas is significant.” Currently, all of Israel’s large cities, where almost 80% of schoolchildren reside, are currently “red zones,” with only 8.5% of students living in green zones and 12.1% living in yellow zones. Government ministers on Monday night voted to extend the closure of the educational system until Thursday morning, with ministers expected to meet again on Tuesday evening to establish an outline for opening schools in the safest way possible. A tentative outline for students living in red zones to return to their classrooms every other day and studying only outside in the open air was met with great resistance by educational officials and parents. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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