Israel’s second wave linked to schools reopening

‘We stopped all moves to ease restrictions that we were going to apply in the coming days’

ISRAEL has put the brake on plans to lift coronavirus restrictions after a sudden surge in infections.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, said he was taking the precaution after the number of daily new cases rose to around 100.

“It could be we are already seeing the doubling of the rate of infection within 10 days. I very much hope not,” he said.

“What we decided to do, first of all, is to hit the emergency brake. We stopped all moves to ease restrictions that we were going to apply in the coming days. We will check this again next week.”

Most of Israel’s 18,000 confirmed cases have already recovered, while the death toll in a country of 8.6 million people stands at 298. According to official figures, fewer than 30 people in Israel are in a serious condition and 23 are on ventilators.

Despite this, ministers appear to be concerned that they may have relaxed lockdown rules too early – in May it eased restrictions and reopened its economy. For many, daily life had returned to normal.

But the decision to reopen schools has been linked to the sudden rise in cases over the past four weeks.

According to Israel’s education ministry, around 130 schools had to close due to the second wave of infections.

Meanwhile, 17,000 students and staff were placed in quarantine and in some schools attendance rates fell to as little as 40 per cent, mainly due to parents’ health concerns. In response to the growing number of infections, ministers have postponed key decisions on easing the lockdown.

Decisions on whether to reopen theatres and concert halls, as well as train services, will now be made on June 21. Mr Netanyahu rebuked Israelis for what he described as a “serious slackening in the rules”.

Israel introduced some of the toughest measures in the Middle East against the pandemic in March, including on foreign arrivals and a mobile phone surveillance network to track suspected carriers.

Until recently, Israelis were also banned from travelling beyond a 100yard radius of their homes.