Gov’t to decide High Holy Day coronavirus restrictions, closure today

The government will convene at 5 p.m. Israel time on Thursday to decide the fate of Israel over the High Holy Days. It is likely that the ministers will be voting on a four-week closure or severe restrictions.The coronavirus cabinet was meeting on Thursday morning to discuss the options: A closure or an almost-closure, something that coronavirus commissioner Prof. Ronni Gamzu is referred to as “tight restraint.”Gamzu said on Thursday that the hospitals have raised a red flag and that closure may at this point be a necessary step.“Closure was the easy solution in the beginning,” Health Minister Yuli Edelstein told the Hebrew website Ynet. The meeting comes on a day in which the Health Ministry reported a particularly high level of infection: Some 3,951 people were diagnosed with the virus on Wednesday. There were 487 people in serious condition, including 137 who were intubated. The death rate stood at 1,055.If the country enters a full closure, it is likely to last from Rosh Hashanah, which begins on September 18, and will run through the end of the Sukkot holiday on October 9. Under this outline, there will be a holiday curfew. Moreover, the education system, workplaces, restaurants, entertainment venues and tourist sites will all be closed.In the lesser scenario, there would still be a curfew, but likely only on yom tov. Restaurants and leisure venues would still be closed, but the school system could operate up through fourth grade. Also, businesses that are not customer-facing would be able to operate in an emergency format.In both scenarios, people would still be allowed to pray with a quorum, but only outside. Inside prayers would need to be held in accordance with red zone rules.On Thursday, the Coronavirus National Information and Knowledge Center released a report verifying what Health Ministry director-general Chezy Levy said Wednesday in an interview with N12: If the country locks down, then the closure must last around a month.“Closure is a proven tool to reduce infection,” the report said, “when it lasts long enough.”The report indicated that with the current level of infection, it would take well over 90 days to reach an average 400 patients per day. The Finance Ministry has come out strongly against a lockdown, arguing that “there can be no total closure under any circumstances, as the damage will be enormous and it will be difficult to repair.”According to the Finance Ministry, a general closure over a “holiday week” would cost the country NIS 4 billion, and a closure on a full week NIS 5 billion to NIS 6 billion.Gamzu has made clear in previous briefings and statements that he is concerned about the impact that the holidays could have on the infection rate, especially since they take place only a few weeks after the start of the school year.“Holidays are a time of many gatherings,” Gamzu said at a briefing earlier this month. “There will be eating [together] and therefore there is a danger of increased infection.”He also said that entering with this increased infection could cause the health system to collapse.
Source