There is no place for mass travel to Uman, and it is good that they were avoided - for the health of the passengers, and for the health of the entire population.
In the public debate, many voices are heard to allow relief and prevent closures, such as closures during the holidays. While there appears to be stability in Israel in the number of new patients, the stability achieved is deceptive. We stand at 2,000-1,500 new patients a day for several weeks now. The morbidity situation in Israel is very serious compared to other countries.
Prof. Gamzo: "We took the complicated road, it is not always popular" // Photo: GPO
In the rate of new patients per capita in the population, Israel is among the top five countries in the world, and it overtook the United States, showing a decrease in new morbidity. We are currently close to 900 deaths in total, but these numbers continue to rise and we are expected to reach 1,000 deaths in the first weekend Of September.
Moderate and severe morbidity is rising slowly, which is reducing the safety margins of the health care system. If there is an outbreak, for example, following the opening of the education system, further relief or a loosening of discipline - we may make it difficult for hospitals and community clinics to function.
In such a fragile situation there is no room for mass travel to Uman, and it is good that they have been avoided. First of all, for the health of the passengers, and then for the health of the entire population. This type of travel is a situation that encourages over-adhesion - because people are very crowded in enclosed spaces (for example, in accommodations and places of worship).
Since the public debate has dealt extensively with the differences between demonstrations and travel to Uman, it is worth noting some differences that increase the risk of morbidity precisely in pilgrimage. One is the duration of possible exposure to carriers of the virus - usually demonstrators are in demonstrations for a short time, up to a few hours, and are usually on the move. Beyond that, demonstrations are held only in the open air, and remember, in the open air safer. However, it would have been good if efforts had been made in Israel to determine the risk involved in the demonstrations.
Gamzo responds to Zohar: "A law will be passed to restrict demonstrations"
Gamzo: "I do not believe that flights to Uman will depart"
After long hours delay: more than 100 Breslav followers were allowed to enter Ukraine
In general, it would be good if politicians left the management of the struggle in Corona to Prof. Gamzo and backed his activities. It is time to approve the traffic light plan to operate uniform tools for the entire population according to the level of morbidity, and it would be good if the system for truncating the contagion chains would be activated soon. Introducing non-professional considerations into the fight against the corona virus does not serve the citizens of the country.
Prof. Ronit Calderon-Margalit is an expert in public health and a professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health of the Hebrew University and Hadassah.