On the eve of the opening of the studies, the Ministry of Health published the list of 26 cities • Most localities with high morbidity: in the Arab and ultra-Orthodox sectors • According to the "traffic light model" they will be restricted - and possibly even closed • In 11 localities more than a thousand patients per 100,000 inhabitants • For the full list
Corona test in East Jerusalem, about two weeks ago
Photo:
Archive - Oren Ben Hakon
Hours before the start of the new school year, the Ministry of Health published the list of "red cities" tonight (Monday) - and if the Corona Cabinet decides otherwise, students from those cities will also return to schools and kindergartens tomorrow.
The cities defined as "red" by the Ministry of Health are Dalit al-Carmel, Tira, Ein Mahel, Emanuel, Kfar Qassem, Asfiya, Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council, Kfar Kanna, Rechasim, Zemer, El Batuf, Lakia, Beit Jen, Ibelin, Ma'ale Iron, Kfar Bara, Jaljulia, Nahal Sorek Regional Council, Kabiya-Tabash-Hajajara, Jadeida Makr, Umm al-Fahm, Jat, Tiberias and Beitar Illit.
According to the "traffic light model", many restrictions will be imposed on those cities.
Photo: Ministry of Health
In 11 localities, the number of patients with the corona virus is over one thousand people per 100,000 people: Yakir (2,035 patients), Tira (1,800), Kfar Qassem (1,657), Kfar Bara (1,555), Beit Jen (1,444), Lakia (1,342), Uzair (1,217), Dalit al-Carmel (1,168), Tifrah (1,151), Ein Nakuba (1,114) and Ma'ale Iron (1,113).
As of this morning, 115,057 people in Israel have been diagnosed with corona - 20,334 of them are active patients.
922 people died, 453 were in critical condition and 123 were respirated.
Yesterday, 1,102 blue people were diagnosed with the virus out of 13,320 tests performed.
The "traffic light model", formulated by Corona Commissioner Prof. Roni Gamzo and approved yesterday by the Corona Cabinet, will take effect on September 6.
In "red" cities, a gathering of up to 20 people in an open area and up to ten people in a closed building will be allowed.
The outline maps cities by color - red, yellow and green - according to morbidity, and is intended to help curb the spread of the virus while imposing restrictions on areas where high infection rates have been recorded.
Gamzo himself said that there is a "certain increase in morbidity in the State of Israel", but that this does not require loss of temper or panic: "We need to look deeply at the changes and understand them. In the general population the situation is quite stable, and most increase in morbidity is in Arab society. "150 new patients for more than 600 per day and that is very disturbing."
Referring to the opening of classes tomorrow, Gamzo said there is no logic in opening the education system in "red" cities: "There is no way there will be a school without a verified case. I stand by it and continue to stand on it. We are still in dialogue to solve this problem. There is no need to insist on an education system in red cities. "
Former Director General of the Ministry of Education, Michal Cohen, expressed support for the words of the Corona Commissioner: "The approved traffic light plan is the responsible and correct way to open the education system on the one hand, and ensure that we do not return to a national closure on the other.
"The entire system should be released as much as possible and spot closures that include schools in 'red' cities should be carried out, all in the hope that it will be possible to consider opening those schools subject to an ongoing assessment of the situation and a reduction in morbidity."