There are 16,608 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Israel as of Sunday, with a total of 59 patients in serious condition of whom 48 are ventilated.

The death toll has risen to 271. A total of 12,884 patients have recovered from the virus, leaving only 3,452 active cases.

Israel’s educational system began a gradual resumption to full capacity on Sunday, with 4th-10th graders beginning their return to their classrooms and pre-schoolers, 1st-3rd graders and 11-12th graders, who have already returned to school, beginning their return to full-time schedules. After-school programs are also resuming.

Each municipality and local council will make the decisions for the exact schedules of their students’ return. School attendance is currently voluntary.

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If any staff members or students are diagnosed with the coronavirus, that school will be closed and anyone in contact with the person in question will be required to enter self-quarantine for 14 days.

Schools located in “red” zones – areas with high rates of infections – did not resume on Sunday and will be reassessed on June 1.

School buses also resumed on Sunday, with set groups of students traveling on the same buses with supervisors present to ensure students are wearing face masks and are not crowding together.

The Education Ministry on Sunday requested that the Health Ministry reconsider the regulation requiring schoolchildren to wear face masks during classes, especially considering the current heatwave Israel is experiencing.

School officials have been quoted as saying that the mandatory wearing of face masks in crowded classrooms will be impossible to enforce and there “is clearly no chance of it happening.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)