Huge numbers of Israelis packed malls, gyms and swimming pools on Sunday after the country began rolling back some of the key restrictions imposed as part of its third lockdown in late December to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Television reports showed that crowds reached shopping centers to take advantage of their first chance to browse stores for several weeks.
While shoppers largely adhered to health guidelines, in some instances people were seen fussing and failing to maintain a social distance.
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From Sunday, shops, malls, markets, museums and street libraries are open to all Israelis.
Those vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19 could enter gyms, sports and culture events, hotels and swimming pools, although the “Green Pass” computer system crashed repeatedly, prompting the Department of Health to announce vaccination certificates. used as evidence until it worked correctly.
Israelis store in Ayalon Mall in Ramat Gan after it reopened following the country’s coronavirus shutdown, Feb. 21, 2021. (Avshalom Sassoni / Flash90)
The reopenings came amid a continued decline in morbidity, especially among high-risk groups, which is largely due to Israel’s rapid vaccination campaign.
More than 4.3 million Israelis have received their first vaccination dose, and more than 2.9 million have received both injections, among the country’s roughly 9 million residents, the health ministry said Sunday. About 3 million Israelis are currently ineligible for vaccination, including those under the age of 16 and those recovered from COVID-19.
The Department of Health said on Saturday that coronavirus vaccines were “dramatically” effective, and the latest data shows the shots were 98.9% effective in preventing death from COVID-19.
Speaking to Army Radio on Sunday morning, however, coronavirus Czar Nachman Ash said the impact of the vaccine should not be construed as a license to disregard caution.
Coronavirus Tsar Nachman Ash at a vaccination center in Herzliya, December 20, 2020 (Flash90)
“I’m happy to see the data, but it has to be handled carefully so that the public doesn’t make a mistake and think it’s possible to behave the way you want,” he said.
The Military Intelligence Task Force said on Sunday that Israel’s R value, the reproduction rate of the virus measuring transmission, or the number of new cases resulting from each coronavirus infection, had dropped from 0.85 last week to 0.79.
Health officials have stated that an R number lower than 0.8 was needed to ease the restrictions.
The announcement came when the Ministry of Health said an additional 1,240 people had been diagnosed with the virus on Saturday. There are usually fewer new cases after the weekend because of reduced test levels.
The ministry said 857 people were in a serious condition, including 273 on fans, and the death toll was 5,569.
In addition to the opening of the trade, grades 5-6 and 11-12 were allowed to resume in-person lessons in cities with low infection or medium-infected cities with high vaccination coverage. Kindergartens and grades 1-4 have previously been opened in cities designated in the government’s color-coding system for disease rates as ‘green’ and ‘yellow’ with low infection.
Grades 7-10 across the country are expected to continue with distance learning for at least another two weeks, and the Director General of the Department of Health Chezy Levy told Kan public broadcaster Sunday morning that all students would be attending school on March 7. return.
“We wanted to open things up carefully, not to bring all the students in school together and cause infection and morbidity,” he said.
Students will return to school at Gabrieli Carmel School in Tel Aviv on February 11, 2021. (Avshalom Sassoni / Flash90)
Infection rates among children and school reopenings are a central concern during the third wave virus outbreak in Israel. Children represent a higher proportion of infections than earlier in the pandemic, possibly because of the new virus variants and the fact that a significant proportion of adults have been vaccinated.
Levy said Israel planned to also vaccinate children once the vaccine was approved for them, but did not provide a timeline.
The vaccine has not yet been approved for children under 16, although Israel has vaccinated dozens of people suffering from specific COVID-19 risk factors. No serious side effects have been reported.
The decisions come amid a continued decline in morbidity, especially among high-risk groups, which is largely due to Israel’s rapid vaccination campaign.
