Israel said Wednesday that parents of children who have tested positive for COVID will no longer be required to enter isolation if they are fully vaccinated or recently recovered from coronavirus.
The Health Ministry said the new rule is effective immediately and applies to parents who care for children aged 12 and below, who are still not eligible for vaccine against coronavirus.
The decision was made after health officials agreed to define a "fully vaccinated" person as someone who has received all three vaccine shots, or two but only if they were administered less than six months ago. A recovered person is someone who contracted COVID less than six months ago, or over six months ago but was vaccinated with at least one vaccine dose.
The ministry called the change in the rule "significant news for parents of children under the age of 12, who were forced into isolation and lost working days."
In the meantime, the ministry also reported that 1,793 new daily COVID-19 cases were diagnosed on Tuesday. After 105,658 tests were conducted, the infection rate now stands at 1.7% - the lowest the figure has been in over two months.
At least 412 patients are in severe condition, which is also the lowest the figure has been in over two months, of whom 178 are ventilated. The official death toll now stands at 7,959.
In addition, the number of "red" local authorities with exceptionally high infection rate also continues to decline. Two and a half weeks ago, 63 communities, of which 58 were Arab, were categorized as red. Now, however, only three local authorities are considered red, of which only one is Arab.