Israel to gradually send pupils from all grades back to school

 The Prime Minister’s Office on Tuesday announced that Israel’s coronavirus cabinet has decided that school children of all grades would return to school in stages over the next two weeks.

Schools were closed in mid-September when Israel imposed a second nationwide lockdown from which it has been gradually emerging since October.

First to fourth-graders already returned to schools earlier in November and fifth and sixth-graders returned on Tuesday.

According to a decision made by the coronavirus cabinet on Monday, the rest of the pupils would go back to class over the course of the next two weeks.

School children living in “red” areas with high-levels of infection, would however, remain at home.

The health ministry on Monday recorded the highest number of new infections in about four weeks, with 943 positive tests.

The percentage of positive results of all tests conducted, however, was similar to previous days at 1.8 per cent.

At the end of September there were more than 9,000 daily infections.

In total, 2,818 COVID-19 patients have died in Israel, a country of 9.2 million.