The rapid increase of coronavirus infections in Jerusalem schools has raised new concerns over a potential second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel, barely a week after the country’s economy was allowed to resume normal operation.
As of Sunday, more than 180 pupils and more than 15 teaching staff had been infected by the virus in one school, the Hebrew Gymnasium high school in the capital’s Rehavia neighborhood.
An additional 180 people from another school, Hartman High School, were sent into self-isolation because they had been in contact with a teacher from the Hebrew Gymnasium. Another student in a third school also tested positive for coronavirus.
Carriers of the virus have been confirmed in a total of 11 educational institutions in the city. Extensive testing is being carried out among the students and teaching staff in the city by municipal and Health Ministry officials.
Meanwhile, some 200 students and staff from a Beersheva school have been sent to isolation after potentially being exposed to a coronavirus carrier.
This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.
