People living in the same space as a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 will no longer be required to isolate, the Health Ministry announced.
People living in the same space as a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 will no longer be required to isolate, according to a Wednesday morning Knesset Health Committee announcement.
The Health Committee, headed by acting chairman MK Elina Bardach-Yalov (Yisrael Beytenu), approved the amendment first introduced last Monday removing the isolation requirement for people living with COVID-19 positive people.
The decision applies to anyone living with a COVID-19 patient, regardless of whether or not they themselves have previously been infected or whether or not they are vaccinated. However, in case of close contact with a severe strain of the disease, or if they work or frequent a place considered high risk (such as a hospital or healthcare environment) they may still be required to isolate.
The Health Committee explained that this requirement was in place to ensure that if a dangerous strain of the virus was discovered, it could be contained without once again amending the isolation laws.
An additional item approved by the Health Committee has renewed the requirement for masks to be worn in medical and welfare settings until June 22, 2022.
A total of 1,833 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in Israel on Tuesday, according to a Wednesday morning Health Ministry update, bringing the total number of known active cases in the country to 14,019.
Of that number, 101 people are considered to be in serious condition, with 44 of them intubated and an additional three people connected to ECMO machines.
A total of 24,747 verified COVID-19 PCR and antigen tests were taken throughout the day on Tuesday, with a positive return rate of 7.61%.
The R-rate currently stands at 0.92, after briefly reaching 1.0 several days ago, but dropping back down again almost instantly.