The coronavirus cabinet on Wednesday again delayed the implementation of the new Green Pass mandate due to technical difficulties in obtaining it.
The new Green Pass was set to take effect on October 3 but has been postponed due to overload on the government website that issues the certificate. The old pass will remain valid until October 17.
The new pass is available for:
• Those who received three doses of the Pfizer vaccine a week after their third jab. The pass will remain valid for six months.
• Those who received the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine after October 3 a week after the jab, while those who receive the second dose of the Moderna vaccine will receive it two weeks after the jab. The pass will remain valid for six months.
• Those who recovered from COVID-19 or those vaccinated after recovering from the disease fewer than six months ago.
The coronavirus cabinet also to voted to ease from Monday the Green Pass restrictions, including scrapping of the mandate for open-air restaurants and other open-air attractions such as pools, jeep driving, kayaking and more.
In addition, starting next week, students in cities where the COVID infection rate is considered lowest, will be able to get an exemption from isolation in case of exposure to a verified patient, a senior health official said.
Earlier, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett directed health officials to present a plan that would end a pilot program in place since late September, in which a student who is found positive for COVID were required to go into isolation, while the rest of his or her class would have to submit to PCR tests.
“We are in a situation where the infection rate is declining and so is the number of seriously ill patients,” explained a Health Ministry official Wednesday.
"In the localities, where the contagion rate is low, we are examining whether there is a possibility to allow less stringent isolation and allow people to go to work, as well as continue with the Green Class."
“I will not leave any classroom without supervision and without any testing… If a sick child is found, and only if the parents agree, the children will stay in class and undergo daily COVID tests, just like during the pilot,” he added.
The official said he had no objection to the prime minister's request.
“Ideally, if we could, we would wait for the results of our pilot program - but I do not think we can be ideal professionals in everything we do,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry reported Wednesday that Israel's severe COVID-19 caseload dropped below to 472, with 193 connected to ventilators.
The ministry added that 1,605 Israelis have tested positive for coronavirus out of some 58,000 tests conducted since midnight, marking a further decline in Israel's contagion rate, which now stands at 2.5%.
First published: 22:22, 10.06.21