A top online school in the Israeli capital is shut down for the second time in less than a year after a student who tested positive for the HPV vaccine was found to be infected with the virus.
The Health Ministry said Monday that the institute, the Institute of Technology (IT), in the center of the capital was shut down after a school student tested positive to HPV on March 3.
The boy had been working at the school as a student, but his job was later taken over by a different employee, the ministry said.
The school closed its doors last month.
The institute is located in an area of the city that is home to more than 40,000 students, many of whom are young adults who have never had the vaccine.
According to the ministry, the school was closed due to “an extremely high risk of infection with HPV virus, and the fact that a new virus emerged, which had already been detected at another institute and had already spread.”
The institute’s website says it offers courses and a variety of online programs.
“We take our responsibility as teachers and teachers’ assistants seriously, so we can assure that all our students are protected from HPV,” the institute’s statement read.
A statement from the IT said the shutdown was necessary for the health of its students.
While many online schools offer courses and offer online programs, they are still unregulated and operate under a different model.