Troops and a total of around 200 reservists will be deployed to 20 hospitals and seven geriatric hospitals.
IDF troops will also help in the effort of ramping up the country’s campaign to provide a third booster of the coronavirus vaccine. There are currently 447 medics (with an aim of having 600 medics) assisting healthcare providers in 207 clinics throughout the country providing the vaccine to elderly populations. Of the 447 medics, 353 are in the reserves.
With the school year beginning on September 1, the Home Front Command along with the Health and Education ministries will open and operate serological testing complexes run by Magen David Adom for students to test for antibodies.
The test is done in the form of a finger prick-like diabetes test and will give health care providers an almost immediate answer.
“There will be between two and three testers at each station and with such a number we will manage to test dozens if not hundreds of children,” said a senior Homefront Command officer.
According to the senior officer, the army aims to screen close to 2 million youth under the age of 12 to see if they have had the virus. Those who test positive will receive a “green pass” and be exempt from isolation if someone in their class tests positive for COVID-19 during the school year.
The operation began in four ultra-Orthodox authorities in recent days, where 19% of the children sampled were found to have antibodies. The officer said that the campaign has been well received by the ultra-Orthodox community and will also expand to the general public by September 1.
The IDF has also reopened the Alon Headquarters and is running three quarantine hotels-one in Tel Aviv and two in Jerusalem- for new immigrants and migrant workers who have nowhere to self-isolate when they land in Israel.
“The main task of the Home Front Command is to save lives. Even if we do not manage to save everyone, we’ve managed to reduce the number of infections and deaths, said the senior officer.