The government's preparations appear to be responsible and determined so far • The Ministry of Health has already prepared evacuation plans for medical institutions • But the spread of false information could lead to panic • According to scenarios in the Ministry of Health, the virus could infect most citizens of the state • Interpretation

The government's preparations and heads of the Corona epidemic of health seem so far to be correct, responsible, considerate, cautious and determined to reduce and delay the spread of the virus as much as possible; A new virus, which by all signs can be very dangerous and deadly in a way that has not been seen in the world for decades and more. The Ministry of Health took the virus seriously - much better and faster than western, more advanced and wealthier countries than Israel (not to mention Italy). The Ministry of Health has taken unprecedented steps, some of them harsh and aggravated, and some that have never been seen here.

Netanyahu: "We close schools, except kindergartens and special education" // Photo: Ami Shamir

So far, the Ministry of Health has given the public full and rapid reports of the spread of the epidemic to the public, and it should be remembered that public confidence in the ministry is not an ordinary public relations and image question but really a major tool in the fight against the epidemic. Without the public's trust in the information provided by the health system, there will be no co-operation with the Ministry of Health's guidelines and instructions, which are only getting worse. The Ministry of Health must continue this policy of full transparency with all information on the spread of the corona to the general public, even if the information is not always easily digestible.

The State of Israel treats the virus as an existential threat, not least from other existential security threats. The Ministry of Health has scenarios based on World Health Organization data on the spread of corona in the world, which could create a situation where the virus infects most of the nine million citizens of the State of Israel. Then, according to these scenarios, thousands of Israelis may die.

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The patients will flood the hospitals, and they will not be able to meet the burden of care. From the beginning of the crisis in China, the Ministry of Health said it was only a matter of time before the virus came to Israel, and it did. But the Ministry of Health's cumulative restrictions and guidelines are designed to reduce the spread of the virus as much as possible in order to prevent hospital flooding and collapse, as has happened in some hospitals in Italy, and to allow patients and the Ministry of Health to treat patients as carefully and carefully as possible. Yesterday's decision to close the schools was correct and aimed to reduce the rate of the spread of the dangerous virus in Israel as much as possible.

Evacuation of hospitals

The Ministry of Health has already prepared emergency plans to evacuate hospitals and other medical institutions to deal with the spread of the epidemic, and it must also urgently equip another respirator. The level of readiness of hospitals is also the result of the sometimes difficult, unbearable burdens, the internal wards, the intensive care units and the emergency rooms. These burdens have not been resolved by all governments in recent decades, and this is now seriously affecting hospitals' readiness for crisis.

In addition to the virus, false and scary information, rumors, hysteria and panic are also being spread, which could fuel the spread of the virus and cause serious harm to the public. The Ministry of Health, also through the police, must act more resolutely against false disseminators of information that cause public panic.

Most of the measures taken by the Ministry of Health are based on social and civic solidarity and personal commitment of the citizen for the general public, no less than medical technologies and threats of enforcement, policing and even coercion. Thus, the Ministry of Health's demand for tens of thousands of Israelis returning from the Corona-infected countries - or those close to patients with the virus - to stay in seclusion for two weeks is based on self-discipline and civil solidarity. The Ministry of Health knows that it cannot and does not pretend to be able to supervise the isolations, and it is based on the public's confidence and willingness to take action and even sacrifice for the general public.

The public's willingness to comply with the Ministry of Health's strict guidelines is based on our recognition that the Ministry of Health and the Government is doing everything possible to reduce social and economic harm, and that the Ministry of Health is acting in a fair, just and measured manner, and not out of panic. It can be just as offensive and deadly as the virus.