The Health and Education ministries announced a new COVID-19 policy for the school system throughout Israel. Assuming it gets approved by Knesset's Education, Culture and Sports Committee, it will kick in on Sunday, January 9.
What you need to know:
Students will continue to attend in-person classes, while the "traffic light" system will be eliminated and instructions to lower physical contact will be reduced.
What if there a student tests positive in my child's class?
The quarantine policies that apply everywhere will kick in here as well.
Vaccinated/recovered
Those who are vaccinated or recovered are required to perform an at-home test or a rapid test.
If the results of the at-home test come back positive, the next step is to take a rapid test. If that comes back positive as well, a 10-day quarantine begins. A doctor's approval is needed to get out of quarantine, at the end of 10 days. There is no need to perform another test.
Not vaccinated/not recovered
Those who are not vaccinated (including those who only received one vaccine dose) or recovered are required to take a rapid test.
If the results come back negative, they must stay in quarantine for seven days. On the seventh day, they should do another rapid test, and if it comes back negative, the quarantine is over.
If the results come back positive, a 10-day quarantine kicks in, and a doctor's approval is required in order for it to end.