The school year will open as scheduled on Tuesday, even in cities and local authorities designated "red" because of a high rate of coronavirus, Education Minister Yoav Gallant announced Sunday evening.
Professor Ronni Gamzu, the coordinator of Israel's national efforts to stop the spread of the virus – and a proponent of delaying the start of the school year in "red" cities and communities – contradicted Gallant, saying, "No decision has been made about the start of the school year in 'red' cities.
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"My unequivocal position has not changed: if the school year starts in red cities now, it will lead to an outbreak in those cities and others. I will continue to fight against it," Gamzu said.
Nevertheless, Gallant told other members of the cabinet that "Most problems in most areas have been solved. All of Professor Gamzu's arguments turned out to be baseless, not based on facts."
Meanwhile, Gamzu's "stoplight" system, which classifies cities, towns, and local authorities as red, orange, yellow, or green depending on their COVID numbers and can be used as a tool to help authorities decide what measures to take to stem outbreaks and what, if any, localized public health restrictions should be instituted, was approved by the Corona cabinet and will take effect on Sept. 6.
The Health Ministry has examined a few possibilities for declaring closures in red cities, such as delaying the start of the school year or even shutdowns, under which residents would not be allowed to venture farther from their homes than 500 meters [yards].
Under the new framework, local authorities will be assigned grades of 0-10 for the following parameters: number of new cases per week per 10,000 residents; the weekly percentage of positive coronavirus tests; and the number of new cases identified per week.
Once every two weeks, the average grades for all these parameters will be calculated. Local authorities with an average grade of 7.5 or higher will be designated red. Local authorities with an average grade of 6 to 7.5 will be designated orange. An average grade of 4.5 to 6 will give a local authority a yellow designation, and local authorities with an average grade of under 4.5 will be designated "green."
Based on the coronavirus color-coding, the following public health regulations will apply:
Red: Public gatherings will be limited to 20 people in open areas and 10 people inside.
Orange: Outside gatherings will be limited to 50 people. If the open area is public or belongs to a business, occupancy must not exceed 40% of the number of persons allowed by the venue's business license. If the license does not specify maximum occupancy, one person will be allowed there for every four square meters (43 square feet) of space, up to a maximum of 50 people.
A maximum of 25 people will be allowed in enclosed spaces and closed public or business venues will be allowed to host no more than 20% of the maximum occupancy their business license permits, up to a maximum of 25 people.
Yellow: Up to 100 people may gather in the open air. Outside public or business venues may host up to 60% of the maximum occupancy their business license permits, or up to 100 people if no maximum is specified by the license.
Indoor gatherings may include up to 50 people. Enclosed businesses and public venues may admit up to 40% of the maximum occupancy allowed by their business license, up to 50 persons.
Green: Outdoor gatherings of up to 250 people are permitted, and occupancy of public or business spaces must not exceed 80% of the maximum allowed occupancy, under the premises' business licenses.
Gatherings in enclosed spaces may not exceed 100 people, and must not exceed 60% of the maximum occupancy allowed under the business license.
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In addition to approving the stoplight system, the Corona cabinet on Sunday approved a plan from Culture and Sports Minister Hili Tropper that will allow culture venues to re-open in green cities, in accordance with public health regulations.
Venues in green cities will be allowed to admit audiences that comprise no more than 60% of their maximum occupancy, up to 1,000 people. Attendees at cultural events must wear masks.
"I welcome the decision to open performances in closed venues," Tropper said after the cabinet made its decision.
"This is important news and another important step in bringing the world of culture back to life. After crowds flocked to open-air performances, we hope and believe that the Israeli audience will go back to performances in enclosed spaces, too. The Culture and Sports Ministry made a commitment to open cultural venues in a safe manner and I'm happy it's happening. I invite the Israeli public to come and express their faith in Israeli culture, under careful public health guidelines," Tropper said.
