Ministers expected to lift more restrictions as virus rates continue to slide - The Times of Israel

Ministers are expected Wednesday to approve a further easing of coronavirus lockdown measures, increasing the number of people allowed to gather in public and removing the requirement for some students to study in small groups at schools.

With the current restrictions set to expire at midnight, the coronavirus cabinet, a panel that sets policy for dealing with COVID-19, will hold a vote by telephone in the evening on newly eased measures proposed by the Health Ministry.

Cultural venues are also expected to be allowed to host up to 750 people under the Green Pass program, up from the current limit of 500.

But in a statement released Wednesday afternoon, Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who chairs the Blue and White party, said that the proposed measures did not go far enough, demanding that more students be allowed to go back to school full time.

“Immediate agreements must be reached between the Education Ministry and the Health Ministry on an outline based on the immediate [lifting of the pod requirement] of first-fourth grades for full-time studies, which will maximize teaching power for fifth- and sixth-grades,” Blue and White said in a statement, threatening to allow the current restrictions to expire altogether if its proposal was not considered.

Sharon Alroy-Preis, said Wednesday that Israel was still “in the midst of a battle” against the pandemic, and warned of the need to remain vigilant.

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