Netanyahu: Easing restrictions will halt if COVID infection keeps spiking

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Sunday that the country is “in danger” from coronavirus and “if necessary, we will halt the continued easing of restrictions and even tighten those we have already given.”Speaking at the opening of the cabinet meeting, on a day that the Health Ministry reported that 3.3% of those screened for the novel virus tested positive, Netanyahu said that, “We are constantly evaluating the data and measures to ease restrictions that we have enacted.“I must tell you that our morbidity situation, relative to [other] OECD member states, countries that we are always compared to and which we compare ourselves to, is good,” he continued. “We have 9,500 active cases, which is much less per capita than almost all of these countries. However, we must maintain this.”A report by the research division of the Intelligence Ministry, which The Jerusalem Post reviewed, said that country is faced with two options: Two short lockdowns – one at the end of December that would last through the beginning January (over Hanukkah and Christmas) and one at the end of March (including Passover) – or one longer lockdown that would last four to eight weeks and include Purim and Passover. “We are fighting a very difficult pandemic that has now claimed from us around 2,800 lives,” Netanyahu concluded. “We must do everything in order to prevent the situation from worsening, which could bring us to even harsher places, even harsher than we have known up until now.”The percentage of people screened that tested positive on Friday was once again the highest in a month – up from an average of around 2% last week.  When the tests done as part of the random survey are removed, 3.3% spikes to 3.9%.In total, 573 new cases were diagnosed out of 17,520 tests, the Health Ministry showed. The death toll stands at 2,864.

Recall, for three days in a row – Wednesday, Thursday and Friday – more than 1,000 new cases were diagnosed per day. A report by the Coronavirus National Information and Knowledge Center, which is overseen by the IDF and the Health Ministry, reported that there has been a consistent increase in the number of new cases and that it expects the number to continue rising. It noted that the increase in the number of people tested daily could not fully account for the spike in new cases.The reproduction rate – the number of people one sick person infects – is also climbing. On Sunday, the Health Ministry reported an average rate of 1.16. In the Arab sector that number is 1.18, 1.12 in the general sector and 0.96 in the ultra-Orthodox sector.In the last seven days, people have been diagnosed with coronavirus across the country, but especially among the Arab community. More than 100 new cases were found in these cities: 790 people in Jerusalem; 258 in Nazareth; 140 in Haifa and Umm el-Fahem; 139 in Rahat; 137 in Shefa-ʻAmr; 122 in Tel Aviv-Jaffa; 102 in Taibe and 101 in Beersheba.

The Health Ministry reported 14 red cities and 24 orange cities. 

“The situation is not good,” Ash stressed. “Young, seriously ill patients indicate morbidity is prevalent in the sector in a way that endangers the lives of the residents of Arab cities.”He called on those who return from abroad to enter isolation, after a report on Saturday night showed that no less than two-thirds of those returning from red states who are supposed to enter isolation violate it, according to Health Ministry data revealed by N12. At the top of the list of countries from which infected patients are returning: Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria. Masad Barhoum, director-general of Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya, echoed Ash’s statements in a direct message to the Arab community he serves: “People returning from red countries like Turkey, entering and leaving the Palestnian territories, it is a recipe for catastrophe,” he said. He added that he had pressed for the government to increase fines to stop illegal weddings, perhaps the largest catalyst for the spark in infection in Arab society.“As a member of the advisory committee to the director-general of the Health Ministry, I thought, along with many of my committee members, that imposing fines of NIS 5,000 would not cause deterrence,” he said. “When it comes to a fine of NIS 50,000, the same person would think twice. Unfortunately, my idea was not accepted and I think it was a mistake.”Ash’s and Barhoum’s statements came only days after the country moved to open 15 malls and seven museums as part of a pilot program. The malls were overcrowded on Black Friday and images swarmed social media of people in large groups, on top of each other in long lines and more.“Mistakes were made in launching the pilot program,” Deputy Health Minister Yoav Kisch said Sunday morning in an interview with Kan. He admitted, “Some of this is our fault – we created the crowding in the malls.”Late Saturday night, Health Ministry director-general Chezy Levy, Ash and other health officials met to discuss if some changes might need to be made to the program.Discussions centered on shifting from allowing less people per square foot; currently one person is allowed per seven square feet and one per 15 is being considered. However, to make that shift, officials would need to vote to approve the change. As such, at least on Monday, nothing will change.Meanwhile, students in grades 10 through 12 returned to school on Sunday without mandatory testing for teachers and students in place.“It is not right to open schools without carrying out orderly and serious testing,” Barhoum said. “Everywhere in the world where the education system has been opened, it has been proven that children have spread infection.”“Schools alone will lead to lockdown,” former Health Ministry director-general Gabi Barbash told the Post. “The question is not if, it’s how long until.”Barhoum, too, said he is convinced that a third wave is around the corner and that it will be particularly difficult, partly due to the combination of the winter season and the cases of influenza and other respiratory diseases that come with it.”Although there is relative calm at the moment and the level of morbidity in the country is low, once it rises – and I have no doubt it will rise – it will be like a fire in a field of thorns,” Barhoum said. “There is no reason to think there will not be a third wave,” he added in an interview with the Post. “And I think we are going to have a third lockdown.”