By: Aryeh Savir
The Israeli government announced Sunday evening that it was imposing nighttime curfews on 40 cities in an attempt to stem the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) as the country contends with a high infection rate.
National Coronavirus project manager Prof. Ronni Gamzu and the Health Ministry held discussions on Sunday to update the outline of restrictions in 40 “red” cities, and the ministerial committee on declaring restricted zones decided to impose a uniform night curfew on all of the “red” cities from 19:00 to 5:00, in addition to a complete ban on gatherings of over 10 people in a closed area and 20 people in an open area, the shutdown of the education system and increased enforcement.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that he “knows that these restrictions are not easy but in the current situation there is no avoiding them.”
He quoted the “professional elements” who are warning “that given the high morbidity situation in Israel, the trend is liable to reverse itself at any moment with a dangerous addition of severe cases and deaths and the danger that the teams of doctors treating corona in the hospitals could collapse.”
With the infection rate climbing on a daily basis, the government initially announced it will impose local full closures on “red” cities with a high morbidity rate, but political pressure from various elements effected by this decision pushed Netanyahu to mitigate the decision and scale back the restrictions to nighttime curfews.
Ultimately, the government has yet to decide on how to address the pandemic in a comprehensive manner, and the various ministries are offering and promoting different, and at times, contradicting moves.
Gamzu has been battling the ministers on various issues, and especially on the issue of possible closures.
The Ministry of Health updated Sunday evening that it had recorded 1,523 new cases in the past 24 hours.
There are 26,683 active patients in Israel. 447 of them are in serious condition, of whom 127 are on life support.
130,157 Israelis have been infected by the virus since the outbreak of the pandemic. 1,012 have died.
Israel has the highest morbidity rate per million citizens in the world.
Experts warn that the current restrictions are not sufficient and that a full closure will be required to stem the spread of the virus, especially ahead of the Jewish High Holidays that will commence in two weeks.
(TPS)
