Israel plans to implement two tests a week for children in the education system, ending quarantine for students exposed to a COVID carrier, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced during a speech on Thursday with Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz and Education Minister Yifat Shasha-Biton.
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"The children of Israel will return to studying. Starting next Thursday, we will start Operation 'Testing and Learning,'" Bennett stated.
All students up to the age of 18 will perform two tests a week at home, one on Sunday morning and one on Wednesday morning before going to school. If the child is negative, they can go to school as normal. If they test positive, they must be tested at a supervised test station and undergo quarantine for five days.
The Health Ministry sought to impose a requirement of three or four tests during the week after exposure, but this measure was opposed by Shasha-Biton.
These at-home rapid antigen tests will be distributed to all students free of charge.
Bennett called on parents to follow the new testing procedures and to refrain from sending the children to school if they show symptoms or test positive.
Following Bennett's speech, Horowitz reiterated the government's strategy of balancing public health, economy, and democracy.
"We chose the complicated but right way – without lockdowns... The easiest thing would have been to close everything down and send masses to unemployment, send all the students home, but when we say living next to COVID, this means also studying next to COVID."
Shasha-Biton stated that ending quarantine for students was the right thing to do for students and teachers, mentioning the mental health toll that isolation takes.
"Every child that comes to school is a child that we're saving," she said.
Currently, only vaccinated pupils have the option of returning to school without quarantine, while unvaccinated children are required to self-isolate for five-seven days if they are exposed to a COVID carrier.
According to data, only about a quarter of Israel's 1.3 million children between the ages of 5-11 – who are eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine – have done so, and only 12% got both shots.
Next Sunday, the Health Ministry's Epidemic Response Team is expected to convene to discuss the issue of the fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine, which is currently only available for people aged 60 and up.
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