Experts debate necessity of corona lockdown as it’s about to begin

As Israel prepares to enter its third nationwide lockdown on Sunday at 5:00 p.m. to combat the resurging coronavirus morbidity rates in the country, it seems like medical experts are divided among themselves regarding the necessity and effectiveness of imposing a general lockdown. Coronavirus commissioner Prof. Nachman Ash and Health Ministry director-general Chezy Levy both started the day by giving radio interviews and explaining why entering a lockdown now is important. In an interview for Army Radio, Levy said that previous experience proved that a lockdown goes a long way in combating the spread of the virus. “I really think that we exited the previous lockdown too soon – the reality completely turned on us,” he said on Sunday morning, adding that exiting the lockdown led to a direct surge of “morbidity rates, reproduction rates and the number of severe patients.” Levy also expressed unease at the fact that sections of the education system will continue to operate during the lockdown, according to Ynet. These include kindergartens, elementary schools and high school grades 5-12. While grades 11-12 were expected to attend schools, the Knesset’s Education Committee decided on Sunday after extensive debates that students in grades 5-10 will also attend schools during the lockdown, and not remotely as originally expected.  Addressing an interview given by coronavirus cabinet chairwoman MK Yifat Shasha-Biton to N12 on Saturday, where she said that the “lockdown is clearly political,” and that she “couldn’t find any explanation as to why we’re entering another lockdown,” Ash told 103 FM Radio on Sunday that he didn’t know why the MK would say that, stressing that “the lockdown is not political – we don’t have a choice.” On the other hand, a group of doctors and medical experts who have come together to establish the National Public Emergency Committee for the Coronavirus Pandemic – some of whom held senior positions in the Health Ministry – have expressed great opposition to the idea of a lockdown and questioned its actual benefits.In a letter sent on Sunday to the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, which still needs to approve the lockdown directives, the group claimed that “members of the government were presented with problematic facts that led to an unnecessary lockdown,” and demanded that the decision be revoked.  

The letter mentions various clauses in the document that the committee needs to approve before the government can implement lockdown and questions their reliability by providing alternate facts and explanations that seemingly contradict the need of entering lockdown. For example, the letter mentions a clause that states that “while the vaccination campaign is underway, it will take several months for vaccines to affect the scope of morbidity rates.” The experts claim that data published by the FDA shows that the process won’t take that long and that “most of the at-risk population will be vaccinated in less than a month.” Another example refers to hospitals and their ability to cope with the rising morbidity rates. The letter questions a clause that notes that “some hospitals are already under a lot of pressure,” claiming that “the burden during the month of December is not only low, it’s exceptionally low.”  The experts stress the grave economic implications that a lockdown will lead to, saying that the “price will be equivalent to the establishment of more than 10 big hospitals.” They conclude in their letter that “there is a significant gap between reality and the situation depicted in the document calling for a lockdown,” and call on the  Constitution, Law and Justice Committee not to approve “this devastating and redundant lockdown.”  At the same time, the Health Ministry reported that 2,630 new coronavirus patients were diagnosed since Saturday, out of 64,662 tests administered – a more than 4% positive rate. Some 584 patients were in serious condition, as the death toll rose to 3,210. Health Minister Yuli Edelstein chose to focus on the other side of the coin on Sunday, addressing Israel’s national campaign to vaccinate as much of the population as possible, which reached its one-week mark on Sunday. “We’re completing the first week of coronavirus vaccinations with an unbelievable number of 280,000 vaccinated people,” Edelstein tweeted, adding that 71,000 people were vaccinated during the weekend alone. “We’ll continue to keep Israel safe,” he insisted.

אנחנו ממשיכים לעלות. מסיימים שבוע ראשון לחיסונים על מספר לא ייאמן של 280,000 מתחסנים, 71,000 מתוכם בסופ”ש האחרון. ממשיכים לחסן בשבילכם, ממשיכים לשמור על ישראל. pic.twitter.com/afEX30DNGa

— Yuli Edelstein יולי אדלשטיין (@YuliEdelstein) December 27, 2020

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry on Sunday morning directed Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s national emergency medical service, to stop sending coronavirus patients to hospitals in Jerusalem in an attempt to reduce the pressure on the city’s hospitals.Patients from the area of Jerusalem will be sent to hospitals in central Israel starting Sunday, including Sheba Medical Center, Beilinson Hospital and the Sourasky Medical Center.
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