Meir Rubin, secretary of the civilian "coronavirus cabinet," called on parents who have the option not to send their children to school at this point.
In an interview with Galei Zahal, Rubin said, "Parents, don't send your children to school until after the holidays."
In this way, he explained, "you will also make things easier for those who have to come, and you will also take pressure off the system, which needs to adapt, and after the lockdown over the holidays the infection rates will drop and the chance of infection will drop."
Former Health Ministry Director-General Professor Gabi Barabash slammed the Coronavirus Cabinet's decision to open schools on September 1 in cities with high infection rates in defiance of coronavirus czar Professor Ronni Gamzu's recommendation.
"There is no normal country in the world which would dare to open the education system with an infection rate of 2,000 people a day," Prof. Barabash told Reshet Bet.
Slamming the leadership's lack of a backbone, he added, "The leadership is too attentive to what the public wants, instead of what it needs, and as a result there are decisions which make it difficult to manage the crisis."