There is a chance that Israel will need to impose a night curfew on Passover, Coronavirus Commissioner Prof. Nachman Ash said on Sunday, as the third phase of the exit strategy from lockdown began.
Speaking to Army Radio, Ash explained that health officials are monitoring the consequences of the gatherings that occurred on Purim and of the new round of openings.
This year Passover begins on March 27, only four days after the general elections.
“I believe that if we clearly see that the openings endanger us, even before the election we might need to make a painful decision,” he said, adding that if needed, the outline might be similar to the one implemented on Purim, which required Israelis to remain within 1,000 meters from their place of residence between 8.30 p.m. and 5 a.m.
“My hope though is that we will be able to celebrate Passover with our families,” he emphasized.
Ash also said that he believes that the requirement that people always wear a mask outdoors could be canceled as their effectiveness is limited. However, since there are other situations when wearing a mask remains important, for now there is not going to be a change in the regulation.
“The goal here is not to produce further confusion – where yes and where no – so the rule remains, but the point is for the police not to enforce it in such areas,” he pointed out.
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The hope, the commissioner said, is that the 3.5 million Israelis who are already fully vaccinated will help protect other people, so that the reopening of commercial activities, schools and events will not drive to a new outbreak.
The R – or reproduction rate – has been increasing in the past few days and stood at 1.02 on Sunday, according to a report by the Coronavirus Knowledge and Information Center. This means that every person infected with COVID infects on average more than one other person. The R rate has been raising concerns among health officials, while others, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have emphasized that at this point, thanks to the vaccination campaign, what matters is the number of vaccinated people and patients in serious conditions.
After several days of steady decline, the number of patients in serious conditions rose on Sunday to 710.
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