With the start of the new school year approaching on September 1, Israel is seeking parental consent to vaccinate pupils against COVID-19 during school hours, the government announced on Monday.

Because of the pandemic, special rules apply at schools.

In red cities with particularly high numbers of new infections, there were only face-to-face classes if at least 70 per cent of the students in the class were vaccinated; otherwise they all have to attend online classes.

In addition, about 1.6 million pupils are to be tested for antibodies against the virus this month.

Those who can prove they have antibodies would not have to be quarantined but if there is a case of COVID-19 in the class.

Israel generally vaccinated children who were 12 years old and above, in exceptional cases even as young as five.

However, the latter only applies to children who are particularly at risk for example, due to extreme obesity, severe chronic lung diseases or heart problems.

The country of 9.4 million inhabitants was currently trying to slow the rise of new COVID-19 infections with a fresh vaccination campaign.

The ministry of health reported 5,383 new cases on Monday. At the same time, 672 seriously ill people were registered, the highest figure since March, while 16 more people died.

So far, almost 59 per cent of the population had been vaccinated twice: about 29 per cent of 12 to 15-year-olds and 69 per cent of 16 to 19-year-olds. For the over-70s, the proportion was over 90 per cent.