Dear Pandemic is psyched to introduce today’s Nerdy Guest, historian Dr. Daphna Oren-Magidor, PhD, to discuss what’s happening with school reopening in Israel, where she lives with her husband and son.
Q: When and under what circumstances did schools reopen in Israel?
A: Israel acted fairly quickly and aggressively once the threat of COVID-19 became clear. The government placed limitations on people coming in from infected countries, and later instituted a two-week quarantine for anyone coming in from anywhere around the world. And once there was evidence of some community infection, they closed down pretty quickly. On March 12 schools were closed, as were most non-essential businesses, and in the weeks that followed there were also limits on placed on where you could go and how. For example, all parks and beaches were closed, and at the height of the limitations you were not allowed to go more than 100 meters (about 110 yards) from your home except for specific reasons.
All of this meant that we didn’t get hit as hard as a lot of other countries, at least so far. At the height of the first wave, we had about 700 new cases diagnosed daily (in a country of about 8.5 million people), we never had more than about 150 people on respirators, and as of June 22 we have had a total of 21,082 people diagnosed positive, and 307 deaths.
Schools first partially reopened on May 3rd (fewer than 100 new cases per day, fewer than 100 people on respirators, total of 232 dead). At this point, it was only for daycares and grades 1-3, and each class was divided in half so that they could learn in smaller groups of up to 17 kids per group. This was considered the most important age group for reopening, because in Israel it’s both legal and completely socially acceptable to leave kids aged 9 and up at home alone during the day, so from 4th grade, parents can go to work and leave their kids.
On May 17th (20 or fewer new cases per day, around 50 people on respirators, total of 272 dead), they reopened the entire school system (no more small classes). This happened along a wider reopening of society(most businesses, public transport etc.).
Q: What precautions are they taking in reopening schools in Israel?
A: It’s important to distinguish here between what the rules say, and what is actually happening – because in many ways it’s actually not possible to follow the rules.
The rules include:
• Kids are limited to their own class, they go out to specified areas in the yard and are not allowed to mingle with kids from other classes (this is somewhat but not strictly enforced).
• Kids are expected to sit as distanced as possible within the class, no more than 2 kids per desk (this is not feasible the way Israeli schools are set up, and there is essentially no distancing within the classroom).
• The school provides soap, gel, masks as needed, and encourages students to frequently wash hands, especially before meals. Public spaces are regularly cleaned. (This does seem to be happening, from what I can tell).
• Kids are not allowed to pass things between them, share books etc. They are also not allowed to play ballgames in the yard, even if it’s just kicking a ball between them (this is a serious sore-spot in a country where soccer is a major pastime for kids). There are no water fountains, and kids are asked to bring two personal water bottles to school.
• Every student has to bring in a signed “health declaration” each morning, stating that they had their temperature measured and it is below 38 c, and that no one in their family has had a fever or respiratory symptoms in the past 48 hours (there is an exemption for people who have chronic conditions such as asthma-induced coughing). This rule is closely enforced, although it relies on self-reporting.
• Teachers are supposed to wear a mask (not all do). Students until age 7 are not required to wear a mask. Above that age, up through 4th grade, students are only required to wear a mask in the public spaces of school (i.e., the yard), but not in the classroom. From 4th grade and up students are required to wear a mask all day (except when eating). Students with specific health needs or special needs that prevent them from wearing a mask are exempt.
Q: Are cases going up and what are they doing about it?
A: In the last week of May, about two weeks after schools reopened, there was a substantial outbreak in one high school in Jerusalem. The entire school was closed down and sent for testing. Initially, all of the students in the grade where the outbreak started were put into isolation. When it became clear how widespread the infection was, the entire school was sent into isolation. At the last count I saw, 144 students and 22 teachers in this school had tested positive. This outbreak had a “spillover” effect as these students have siblings in other schools (including my son’s school) and those schools were initially closed at the parents request, and then when it turned out that there were some positive cases in these schools, those schools were also closed, the students sent into isolation, and tested. Just to give some numbers: my son’s elementary school has 65 kids whose siblings go to the high school with the outbreak. About 15 of the kids had siblings who were tested positive. Of these, 3 kids from our school tested positive. The entire school was sent into isolation and tested, and to my knowledge there have been no other positive cases. Our school reopened first for grades 1-3, and last Sunday reopened fully.
Following this outbreak there was some discussion about closing the schools again, at least for the older kids, and some schools decided independently to return to remote teaching. However, the government decided not to close the school system. Instead, they instituted a new policy in which any school that has even one positive case is closed down, everyone goes into 14 days of isolation and gets tested, and only then the school is reopened. So far, there has not been any other major outbreak like this high school case. As of June 21 there were 739 students and staffs tested positive throughout the country (for reference: there are about 2.3 million students and 200K staff in the Israeli education system).
Over the past few weeks we are seeing a rise in overall COVID-19 cases diagnosed in the country (now averaging over 250 new cases per day), and while there has been some rise in severe illness, it is still fairly moderate (as of June 22 there are 29 people on respirators) Part of the reason for this may be the new policy regarding the education system, because previously people were only getting tested if they either had symptoms or were in direct prolonged contact with a confirmed case. Now we have lots and lots of people getting tested who have had only 2nd or 3rd degree contact with a confirmed case, and most of these are students. So we are now seeing a lot more cases diagnosed that are asymptomatic, and a lot more that are in young people – which may account for why we have a lot more cases, but not a lot more severe illness. But of course, time will tell.
At the moment, on a national level they are putting a halt on any more easing of restrictions and are increasing the fines on not wearing a mask in public. They have not yet introduced any new restrictions. They are hoping that a policy of substantial testing and contact tracing, as well as designating specific high-illness areas as “red zones” that will have restrictions, will help to halt a new wave of infection. In terms of the education system, the school year ended in high schools and junior highs on June 20th, and will end in elementary schools on June 30th, although elementary schools will be operating in a day-camp format until August, and the government has approved the opening of private day-camps.
As for whether this policy will succeed, I guess time will tell.
