Teachers refusing vaccination may be barred from schools

Local authorities are now permitted to deny access to the classroom teaching staff who refuse to accept vaccination against coronavirus or regular tests. According to a landmark court ruling on Sunday morning, the safety of pupils and parents against infection overrides the teachers’ civil rights.

On Sunday, too, Ben Gurion Airport will process around 60 flights in and out of the country,  two days ahead of national elections, affording returning Israelis the chance to vote. Instead of addressing the High Court ruling banning the 3,000-per day quota for returning Israelis, the PMO and Health Ministry have set a 4,000 limit each way governed by the airport’s capacity to abide by the testing and social distancing guidelines for curbing coronavirus infection. But they did do away with the Exceptions panel for regulating the ingress of Israeli nationals from overseas.

The Taba crossing point to Egyptian Sinai is to be reopened for the Passover holiday this coming weekend.

Covid-19 restrictions are being eased as infection continues to decline. After more than 4.5 million Israelis received two vaccination jabs, the R coefficient dropped to 0.62 and the rate of positive tests fell to 1.7pc.  In the hospitals, there were still 549 serious cases with 199 on ventilators. The number of deaths since March 2020 has ached 6,082.