Coronavirus czar debuts ‘Defend Israel’ strategic plan

Less than one week after being appointed the country’s new coronavirus commissioner, Prof. Ronni Gamzu revealed his “Defend Israel” strategic plan to save the country from the novel coronavirus.“Last week, we appointed Prof. Ronni Gamzu to be national coronavirus project manager,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “Gamzu will present his plans today. If I had to summarize in one word the basis of this plan, it would be the word ‘together.’”“I expect all government ministers to back up this plan,” he continued. “I expect all Israeli citizens, without exception, to cooperate with it. Together, we will defeat coronavirus.”Although Netanyahu, Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein participated in the event, Gamzu took center stage.The Defend Israel plan has three main arms: 1) a new contract will be established between the public and those managing the coronavirus crisis, 2) the IDF will take over the management of testing and contact tracing and 3) data will be consolidated and presented in a unified manner.“We are in the midst of a plague that is still progressing and at this point in time we need to take rapid steps,” Gamzu said. “It is possible that the hospitals will reach a breaking point. I want the contact rate to be less than one. This is the only way we will start eradicating the pandemic – with less burden on the hospitals. It can only be done together.”He said that it is time for a new contract between the citizens of Israel and those that are managing the coronavirus crisis.
“We have seen a decline in confidence in recent days, and as such, the virus has spread,” Gamzu stressed. “The new contract: the government does everything logically, quickly and confidently. The citizens obey and cooperate.”He promised not to place “illogical” restrictions on the public and to reduce directives as much as possible.“I am responsible,” he said.With regards to “test, trace, isolate,” the methodology that experts believe is key to stopping the spread of the pandemic, Gamzu admitted that until now the Health Ministry has not done a sufficient job. As such, “the IDF will deal with this,” he said.“The IDF’s involvement is very important because it is a system that can work quickly,” Gamzu stressed.Shortly after the meeting, Gantz released a statement informing the public that “an hour ago, in cooperation with the chief of staff, I approved the establishment of a coronavirus headquarters in the Home Front Command. It will be at your disposal, Prof. Gamzu, for anything you need.“The IDF knows how to win wars,” Gantz continued. “it will also know how to win this battle.”Earlier in the day, Gamzu met with the heads of local authorities and shared more about his plan, including that testing will be increased to 60,000 people per day within the next two months and ultimately up to 100,000 by winter. He also said that he wants to manage cities according to their rates of infection, designating them red, orange or green. The greener a city is, the more powers the mayors will have to make decisions about what stores and activities to open. In contrast, red cities would be managed by the Home Front Command in cooperation with the local authority.Shortly after sharing his plan, Gamzu told N12 that he plans to open schools on September 1.“The infection rate is lowering,” Gamzu said. “We are almost there.”On Monday, some 2,057 people were diagnosed with coronavirus out of 28,224 people who were screened, the Health Ministry said Tuesday – an infection rate of 7.4%. Between midnight and press time, another 1,363 people tested positive.There were 316 patients in serious condition, including 97 who were intubated. Eight people died Tuesday, bringing the country’s death toll to 486. Source