Senior medical officer warns following Health Ministry plan to hospitalize Corona patients in designated wards • "Hospitals are not prepared, it will spread and catastrophe"

• Tourist tested for Corona at Ben Gurion Airport // Photo: Yehoshua Yosef

A senior official in one of the hospitals in Israel criticized the Ministry of Health's policy of hospitalizing Corona patients in dedicated hospitals: "The hospitals are not prepared. Every hospital will become a corona ship and we will have a fleet of corona ships. Shared merging systems, shared sewer systems. And there will be a catastrophe. "

Prof. Hagai Levin, chair of the Association of Public Health Doctors, is another expert who addressed the Ministry of Health decision from the evening: "The decisions that have so far been made to buy us time to prepare, both in the health system and outside the health system, for the possibility of an outbreak.

"No such or other decision on borders should worry us," Prof. Levine added, because it is a temporary decision that will soon change. The time we buy is designed to prepare all systems: the health system, and beyond. Welfare and transportation education systems also need to prepare for the state of the Corona spread in Israel, but we do not hear about that. "

The Ministry of Health's new guidelines are expected to significantly increase the number of people staying in isolation. As of Wednesday, 1,759 people were in solitary confinement, and a total of 912 laboratory tests were taken for people suspected of being ill. Apart from two tests for the Sheba carriers, all tests came back negative.

Today it was learned that the Ministry of Health has further tightened the guidelines for travelers to Italy in particular, and abroad in general, and that as of Sunday, anyone returning from Italy will enter the 14-day solitary confinement.

After Monday, a travel warning issued for travel to northern Italy was issued by the Foreign Office, and the Ministry of Health recommended not to travel to the country at all. Other recommendations are to consider the necessity of traveling abroad and to avoid attending international conferences. Including religious events attended by all over the world. The intention of religious events is, among other things, the pilgrimage of Muslims to Mecca. In this way, the outbreak of the Iranian virus could also affect Israel.

The guidelines will take effect on Sunday, and the Ministry of Health explains that "the said date is intended, among other things, to give enough time for Italians staying in Israel to leave Israel in an orderly manner."

At the end of a discussion on the epidemiology team at the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Health estimates that there is a high probability that the disease has spread in other regions of Europe and many other places in the world, and therefore the Ministry of Health urges the public to consider the need for travel abroad in general, beyond the obligation of return to isolation. From specific countries. "

Another recommendation concerns participation in international conferences - whether in Israel or abroad. These are conferences in which several countries are at risk of infection. The office notes that "trips to conferences, conferences and other international gatherings should be avoided, including trips to events of a religious nature. People from many countries gather. International conferences in Israel should also be avoided. "

In Italy, the focus of the third corona eruption after China and South Korea, so far 383 patients (60 of whom have passed in the past day) and 12 have died of the disease. Just 51 new patients were added yesterday. "Italy joins the level of risk in other countries that we have warned about and recommended for isolation," explained Deputy Health Secretary Prof. Itamar Grotto, "Hospital numbers there are rising dramatically. There is no point in stopping the trips from Italy, because it is not applicable and many people from Italy come to Israel via other countries, so we unequivocally recommend not to travel. "

He said, "If people cancel travel proactively, the number of outbound and inbound flights from Italy will also drop. All containment efforts in the meantime are working. Once they seem to be not working - we will change the recommendations. If there are many cases in the country, there will be no point in isolation. Help. "

He concluded that "the guideline means that those coming from Italy, including tourists, will have to be in isolation. The guideline will apply from Sunday so that Italians who do not want to enter seclusion can leave."

Because the guidelines were published yesterday and will only take effect on Sunday, but refer to the last two weeks, it means that anyone who has returned from Italy in the last two weeks (ie, February 12) should be in solitary confinement until he is two weeks old.

It has not yet been decided whether Italian citizens will be allowed to enter Israel, but a senior professional said this is likely to be the case this time around, as was the case with other countries. At the same time, it was estimated that Italian tourists would be evacuated on Sunday.