This was to be expected:
the "green class" program, which was launched yesterday and was supposed to exempt students from isolation in green cities - is not yet being implemented in practice, and many students have remained in isolation.
The reason: the Ministries of Health and Education were unable to provide all parents with rapid antigen tests, and there was a great deal of confusion among the principals.
Some authorities claim that the directive did not reach the schools.
Another reason: Not all parents signed a consent form, as it was not sent to them.
The aim of the initiative is to reduce the days of isolation of students from green localities.
Meaning: In a classroom where a verified patient is discovered, the students in the class are tested by a PCR that will be performed at the Home Front Command positions or at the health funds.
Students will remain in isolation until a negative answer is received, after which they will return to the classroom routine, with a mandatory speed test using antigen kits for seven days.
On the seventh day another PCR test will be performed.
After receiving a negative answer, the whole class will return to routine.
The purpose of the initiative is to reduce the isolation days of students from green localities // Photo: Gideon Markovich - Archive,
But in many localities the program stalled, for two reasons: The first is that the parents were not instructed to take the children for a PCR test so some will only do so today, and even then will have to wait for an answer.
The second reason is that many schools did not get the quick tests - which parents have to pick up to sample their children every morning, every day.
In one of the schools, which is located in a green locality, a positive teacher for Corona was discovered yesterday.
Four classrooms were required to insulate a home, although the layout of the green classroom was supposed to have already begun.
Many parents were surprised, but received a reply that "this outline has been postponed for a few days, as they have not yet distributed the tests."
The school principal asked to prevent the isolation, but did not receive permission to do so.
The Ministries of Health and Education have failed to provide all parents with rapid antigen testing.
Minister Shasha-Bitton with students // Photo: Oded Karni - GPO,
There are currently 127 green cities where the plan is supposed to operate.
The Ministry of Education has circulated a list of 33 schools that have a verified patient, and who were supposed to receive the antigen kits yesterday.
However, an examination of "Israel Today" with most of the cities on the list revealed that many of them failed to implement the plan.
Some received the tests only in the late evening, while others did not receive them yet.
In Kiryat Shmona, they claimed that "the outline of the green class does not yet apply to us."
In Kfar Saba, they said that they would start the outline only next week, and according to parents, they had not yet been given tests.
In Tel Aviv, they said that "the state has announced that the delivery of antigen kits is delayed. Until then, in classrooms where a verified student will be found, the students will remain isolated. In any case, as soon as the kits arrive, the municipality will be ready to distribute them in all settings."
The great hope is that the tests will be sent to the schools today, and the students will return as early as Tuesday.
Yesterday, the number of isolated students was 87,000, and another 1,849 sick students.
The exemption from isolation for students in the green class is valid only for studies, after-school programs (grades 1-2) and transportation.
Dr. Oren Koviler, a virologist at Tel Aviv University, calls the program "irresponsible."
