A Health Ministry official said Sunday although there will be a rise in the number of serious and intubated coronavirus patients, as new cases increase, widespread closures are unnecessary.
The number of new diagnoses in the country has been increasing as more and more emergency restrictions are being lifted. Friday saw the highest daily rise in the number of new cases since April, with 144 new diagnoses and over 16,000 coronavirus tests conducted.
Dr. Tal Brosh, secretary of the Health Ministry's pandemic task force, told Ynet that despite the rise in the number of new cases he opposes the current policy that requires schools to close down if one of the students or faculty members is diagnosed with the pathogen.
"The guidelines are a bit extreme. There's no need to shut down an entire school because of one sick student or teacher," said Brosh. "You can run an organized [epidemiological] investigation instead of mass closures. In September, we will be in the exact same place, maybe even worse due to the cold weather. We will have to learn to live with it."
Dr. Brosh also said that despite the spike in the number of coronavirus infections, at-risk populations, such as elders and chronic patients, seem to be less affected. However, the public's lax conduct regarding social distancing will lead to a rise in the number of coronavirus patients in serious condition and those receiving respiratory assistance.
"The public is not careful enough," he said. "In two weeks' time, we will see an increase in the number of intubated patients and those in serious condition."
The doctor added that reversing the easing of restrictions on the economy, health and education systems will be very difficult.
"This would have very serious consequences and I think that in the meantime, the situation is tolerable, and I hope that it is under control. People need to take responsibility for themselves and their children."
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Sanitation worker at Jerusalem's Gymnasia Rehavia where dozens of students and faculty contracted coronavirus
(Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)
Meanwhile, schools around the country continue to close their gates, even if no virus cases were reported among students and staff.
Five schools in the Sdot Negev Regional Council were closed on Sunday after a middle school student, who was diagnosed with coronavirus, was reportedly on one of the schools' shuttle buses.
The Health Ministry confirmed 82 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, the lowest daily number in a week.
The number of coronavirus tests dropped as well from a record of 16,000 tests on Friday to 11,440 tests on Saturday. The percentage of positive diagnoses has averaged between 0.8% and 1% since Tuesday.
Matan Tzuri contributed to this story.