Just days after Israel’s mask mandate was ended, the Israeli Health Ministry is planning to reimpose the requirement in some areas, and is considering recommending a full return to the indoor mask mandate.
According to reports by Channel 13 and Kan Sunday night, Health Ministry officials are already drafting a recommendation to the government to reimpose the mask mandate in schools.
The plan comes after several outbreaks of the Indian variant of the COVID virus were reported in Israel.
Along with a recommendation to the government to again require face masks in schools, the Health Ministry is also reportedly planning to aggressively push for the mass vaccination of children between the ages of 16 to 12.
Furthermore, the Ministry is said to be considering also advising the government to restore the mask mandate in all indoor public spaces, after the mandate in schools is renewed.
Last Tuesday, Israel dropped its indoor mask mandate, requiring masks only in welfare institutions, long-term care medical centers and old-age homes, and for air travel and people on route to quarantine.
A total of 46 new cases of the coronavirus were reported across Israel Sunday, while the number of seriously ill COVID patients is currently listed at 24.
Education Minister Yifat Shasha-Biton (New Hope) slammed Health Ministry officials Sunday, accusing them of fomenting an atmosphere of panic.
“Get serious,” Shasha-Biton, who formerly chaired the Knesset’s Coronavirus Committee, said during a government meeting Sunday. “I’ve been following the numbers since May, and the infection coefficient has always been around 1.”
“We’re not in an emergency situation,” Shasha-Biton continued, expressing her opposition to the decision to renew an emergency law enabling the government to pass COVID-related laws without Knesset approval, giving the Knesset only the ability to retroactively nullify such laws.