Israel’s Health Ministry reported a decrease in positive coronavirus tests on Tuesday for the third day in a row.

However, the team of Hebrew University researchers that advises the coronavirus cabinet is not impressed by the slight decrease in infection rates, stating that it will still take a prolonged period of time until there is a significant decrease in morbidity.

On the other hand, the researchers believe that the Israeli public will not be able to comply with an extended lockdown and recommends allowing the public to return to a limited routine and cautiously re-opening the economy while still banning large gatherings.

The panel is opposed to the re-opening of yeshivos in the Chareidi population due to the multiple coronavirus outbreaks in their ranks shortly before Yom Kippur. It also opposes opening schools for children over the age of ten in the general population.

The IDF’s Coronavirus Information and Knowledge Center also recommended keeping high schools closed for weeks or even months, with online learning taking the place of classroom learning. The center’s report, published on Monday, states that the re-opening of schools was a major factor in the surge of coronavirus cases in Israel. “The age groups in which infections soared was 15-17 in the general sector, 12-17 in the Arab sector and 12-17 among males in the Chareidi sector,” the report stated, urging the government to “carefully consider the return to in-class studies.”

“A rise in infection rates at the beginning of the school year was seen in other countries around the world, including the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, Spain and Greece,” the report added.

The report also mentioned a study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which shows that children under the age of 10 who contract the coronavirus at schools can spread the disease at home even if asymptomatic.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)