Israel has seen its highest-ever number of newly confirmed coronavirus cases since the global epidemic erupted, with 1,319 identified in the 24 hours from midnight Monday to midnight Tuesday, the Corona National Information and Knowledge Center reported Wednesday morning.
The number of new confirmed cases correlates with increased testing. In the same 24-hour period, 25,270 corona tests were conducted nationwide.
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However, the percentage of positive tests for the 24-hour period was high, with 5% testing positive for the virus. Betar Illit is seeing one of the country's highest percentages of positive test results, with 16% of tests conducted on residents of the city in the past seven days coming back positive.
On Wednesday, Defense Minister Benny Gantz decided to quarantine himself citing concerns he had been exposed to the virus earlier this week.
"Out of desire and responsibility to avoid the risk of spreading infection and after consulting medical officials, Defense Minister and Prime Minister-designate Benny Gantz has entered quarantine until he can be tested for coronavirus and an epidemiological investigation can be completed," a statement by his office said.
Gantz was reportedly "feeling well" and expected to continue overseeing the work of the defense ministry and other matters from quarantine.
Tuesday saw a special ministerial committee order a week-long closure on Betar Illit, in Gush Etzion, to stop the spread of the virus. Since the city is located over the Green Line, responsibility for enforcing the closure falls on the IDF. Betar Illit Mayor Meir Rubenstein slammed the decision, accusing the Health Ministry of not giving the city enough time to prepare for the closure. The announcement about the closure was issued at 11 p.m. Tuesday.
Rubenstein said he "staunchly opposed" the closure and said he had sent an urgent letter to the ministry, asking that the decision be reversed. Rubenstein said that the ministry was using "bullying" tactics and making decisions without consultation.
The mostly-Haredi town of Rechasim, outside Haifa, also had an unusually high percentage of positive coronavirus results, with 17% of residents who were tested in the first seven days of July turning out positive for the virus.
Modi'in Illit saw 11% of coronavirus tests on its residents for the same seven-day period come back positive; Bnei Brak had 10% positive results, and Kiryat Malachi, outside Haifa, saw 9% of tests of its residents showing positive for coronavirus.
Raanana, east of Tel Aviv, which reported Tuesday that at least 25 students from its Metro West and Ostrovsky high schools had contracted coronavirus at private graduation parties, also saw a high percentage of positive test results in the first seven days of July, with 9% returning positive.
A total of 96 corona patients were listed in serious condition for the first seven days of July, compared to 103 for all of June, the Health Ministry reported Wednesday. The number of seriously ill patients on ventilators stood at 34 for the first seven days of July, the same number as in June.
As of Wednesday morning, the number of "active" or symptomatic patients in Israel stood at 13,841. A total of 343 corona patients have died of the virus or complications from it, and 18,376 have recovered. The country has carried out a total of over a million (1,144,742) tests since the start of the epidemic.
Transportation Minister Miri Regev, the National Security Council, and the Health Ministry have reached an agreement on new regulations for the nation's bus system.
The Transportation Ministry announced Wednesday that starting Thursday, July 9, buses would be restricted to 50% passenger capacity. City buses will be allowed to carry up to 32 passengers, and intercity buses will be allowed up to 30 passengers.
Buses will be allowed to operate air-conditioning, but with open windows. Public transportation will stop at 10 pm.
Bus drivers are saying that the issue of handling bus fares has yet to be solved, and complained that there is no oversight, with the drivers responsible for enforcing the restrictions.
Meanwhile, there is growing concern that the 2020-21 school year might not begin on time, or how schools will operate.
Winter weather eliminates the option of holding classes in the open air, whereas closed, heated classrooms could turn into coronavirus breeding grounds. But Israel does not have sufficient school structures or teaching staff to split students into smaller groups.
Education Minister Yoav Gallant was planning to meet with the top echelon of ministry officials to discuss how the ministry would prepare for a new school year under the cloud of corona, with less than two months to get things ready.
Expectations are that the 2020-21 school year will be handled with a great deal of improvised, last-minute solutions. This will require a hefty additional budget and considerable logistics because any small change will have to be implemented in thousands of schools.
One high-ranking official in one of Israel's large local authorities said, "The Education Ministry has no idea how it will start the school year, or if it will start the school year. No one knows how the virus will develop, not a month from now, and certainly not two months from now."
The official said he hoped that the plans for the new year would "arrive in time, not like what happened with the afterschool programs and schools for summer vacation."
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While nothing is certain, schools are being asked to prepare for three possible scenarios.
The first: A full closure that includes all schools or some individual schools, and distance learning. The second scenario would combine distance learning with in-school study. The third scenario is called the "corona routine," and entails schools remaining open but operating under public health regulations.
The Education Ministry said in response to reports that "We began preparing for the new school year six months ago [in January]. Given that, some of the framework and guidelines for next year have already been published. In addition, in the next few days, the ministry will continue to publish more parts [of its protocol] in an organized, orderly manner, while working on the launch of the school year with our educational partners."
