With the spread of corona and panic around the world, questions are growing around the implications of the situation • Will the virus stop for the summer? • We brought in experts from a variety of fields to get a snapshot, and we came out pretty optimistic

• Israelis at Ben Gurion Airport // Photo: Yossi Zeliger

The Corona virus continues to spread in Israel, with the number of patients only rising, and with it the fear of many people, who are afraid to leave their homes, store groceries and are generally in a great panic. In light of all these, many questions arise, among which, will we soon see widespread contagion in the country as is happening in Italy? Do we expect mass cancellation of studies at universities and educational institutions, and in particular, what economic damage Israel is expected to face following the virus and its consequences? We spoke with experts and they, as expected, share views, but with an optimistic message.

Reporter: Dana Pan Luzon // Photo: Gil Kramer // Edit: Sivan Schuster, Eden Barel

Professor Moti Ravid, director of the Salvation Hospital in Bnei Brak, believes that there is a gradual spread of the Corona virus in Israel, but not in the form of loss of control. He also hypothesizes that a number of metrics are that the Corona virus will stop at the beginning of summer.

"First of all, there seems to be a spread of infection in the community. It will probably happen in the next few weeks. But there will not be any of Italy's plays, Israel is working well and most of the public obeys instructions and so as in Germany, Switzerland and elsewhere in Europe there is no plague - there will be no loss of control here either. Moreover, if we pay attention to countries where there is no summer there are no reports of the Corona. "

"In Brazil and Australia, for example, there is a low number of contractors," he adds. "It's not that there were no reports, but they were lonely and that is it. It implies that it may be a winter virus and it may be a few weeks when summer arrives and in Israel it will be very hot then the virus will stop. Also, the rest of the corona family are winter viruses and are arrested in the summer. In addition, in Israel there are a number of Corona family members who attack the children's respiratory system in the winter, and each year we encounter viruses from this family and they are blocked by the summer, which is why children are partially vaccinated against the virus because they are exposed to their relatives in other respiratory diseases. ".

More on:

Prime Minister Netanyahu: "Consider isolation for all those coming from abroad"

• US Corona expansion: Emergency declared in Oregon

• Female force against the corona eruption

• The condition of the Corona patient in Poria was worsened

"Therefore, with caution and hope, I estimate that he will be detained for another few weeks in Israel and that way the infection will be stopped. The Ministry of Health is working very well. I just do not understand why such a department is opened in all hospitals and not three staff, at Shamba Rambam and another large hospital "That way, the danger of medical teams getting infected and also a professional team with that experience increases and can allow the rest of the system to function normally."

As far as the vaccine is concerned, Prof. Ravid points out that it is a process of at least another year, "I am not at all sure that a vaccine will be found, but if a vaccine is found, it is a long process of a year or more. You will burst into an uncontrollable plague in Israel. "

The spread is inevitable

Professor Kobi Moran Gilad, a specialist in microbiology and public health, a researcher in the Department of Health Systems Management at Ben-Gurion University, believes that the bulk of the struggle is the rate of infection in Israel.

Netanyahu: "Consider isolation for all those coming from abroad" // Photo: Ami Shamir

"In fact, the real scenario is the spread of infection, there will be a point that will no longer help to isolate people because the virus, in its properties, makes it very difficult for us to continue to spread. That is, we are in a phase of containment, but in fact soon we will not be able to isolate people. "Eliminate all unnecessary mass events, plays, football, basketball, tell people to stand far from each other, hygiene, may also be canceled at institutions."

"It's not to live like this all the time, but to organize in terms of being able to treat patients. Suppose 20,000 hard-working patients are expected to have a better ability to defend and cure patients, so that they can find a cure and benefit. Will spread in the country and have to change our habits. I am not saying that we will live like this for a decade now. Understand that there is coping and things that need to be eliminated Chim. "

The goal - to postpone the Corona for the summer

Dr. Yael Faran of Ichilov Medical Center in Tel Aviv, a specialist in internal medicine and an infectious disease specialist, director of the Israel Defense Forces and the Hepatic Disease Clinic, explains that the outbreak will occur anyway but try to postpone it this summer.

"The problem is that the Italian government is currently losing control and there are not enough respirators for the severely ill, doctors there are deciding who will live and who will die, recruiting people who are not really doctors to help. This is the scenario of terror and the Ministry of Health in Israel. But a major outbreak and infection is a viable option in the country. Just what? If it happens in the summer then there aren't many patients in the hospital, the data from Australia show that perhaps the summer virus is less active than it was in the SARS. That means the struggle is to benefit the growth curve from the disease outbreak. "

"Every epidemic has a pick and when it goes through there is a decline because people are developing resilience, there are medications, the problem is that the virus is progressing. Here if we get to summer it will be easier to deal with it. Moreover, it seems to me that soon we will have to go to home care and not flood the hospitals, Probably but most patients are not difficult and witnesses will be home and will be some kind of boiler or disease spread, "she concludes.

The difference between flu and pandemic

Professor Shlomo Ma'in, the director of the infection system at the Barzilai Medical Center, says that the health system needs to be prepared and all separations and isolations must be continued acutely and constantly. "People don't understand, the Corona virus is 20 times as contagious as the flu virus. It's an epidemic the world has not known like since the Spanish influenza in 1918 which was a huge catastrophe then."

"Here we have medical advancement and a very big advantage that Israel is an island state. So the virus can still be managed and try to prevent its major infection. That is, the Ministry of Health is currently able to stop a very contagious disease and this is a very big achievement. Our weakness is in transitions with the Palestinian Authority. "This is a weak point that needs to be given attention and it must be prepared for long enough stay with a patient to become infected. If the Ministry of Health succeeds in isolating Israel, I am optimistic that we will ease the outbreak in Israel."

The economic differences between Israel and Iran

Shlomo Maoz, a lecturer and commentator in the field of finance and finance, and a director of 15 public companies in Israel, notes that the world's biggest crisis has been happening since the US bankruptcy wave in 2008.

"Closing borders reduces demand and lowers oil prices to the floor. Those who are hurting those oil-leaning countries like Iran that I think will not be able to get through this crisis and collapse will also be severely hit by Saudi Arabia and Russia. Canada, Mexico, the US and oil exporters will also be hit. A similar crisis will befall Europe who holds it above the water this is Germany which is very strong financially. But the Germans are hit by the Chinese decline in demand so Germany will not be able to carry all of Europe around its neck even though it will hurt slightly. "

"Therefore, a deep crisis is expected in the Union. The crisis is compounded by the US interest rate cuts that the Trump administration is working to protect its economy but makes the euro as well as the shekel very expensive. That is why Europe and the UK are facing a recession. Incidentally, if Sanders is strengthened in the US as a Democrat, it will put another dangerous jolt on the markets that the man is holding almost communist views that will hardly calm the market. Brazil and Argentina will also be hurt by those arguments. But the gospel is that Israel will hardly be hurt or marginalized. "

"Israel does not produce final products but over 50 percent of its production is technology, services, medicine, computing and those products that are always consumed. The tourism and medical companies should not be saved either. Whoever made big profits and did not save money in a bad situation is his problem and will eliminate And if you go bankrupt, the state will buy it with one shekel that an airline needs, and after a few years you will make an exit for hundreds of millions, including the screams of the rich who will save them at the expense of the ordinary citizen who did not earn any of these private companies when they were profitable. Should people who haven't saved themselves money during a crisis? It's a scandal. "

"What is it? The state needs to set up a good loan fund for businesses that are difficult for them. But other factors, including aviation and tourism, will not go bankrupt. This is the market and those who do not think of crisis situations should take caution and not shout to the public for help."

Don't save the airlines

Economist Dr. Amazia Samkai says the virus is hurting and may harm the world economy and therefore Israel and the state should save the money it has only for sensitive and necessary enterprises for Israel's existence. "The public in the country did not make a profit when the airlines made a profit and not when the tourism business made a profit. A businessman should sometimes save a crisis and those who do not then go bankrupt. The little money there is in the country that we are in deficit, should be kept for manufacturing plants, because the demand for our products in the world has dropped. "

"Necessary factories, are not currently at the forefront of the economic outcry because they are still operating. But at some point they will run out of raw materials, products will not be achievable. These are companies that consume far more and can significantly affect the stability of the country that has no vigilant witnesses. And PR. Therefore, the little money the government has after the big deficit that already exists should be preserved for the harsher reality of a global pandemic and impact on products and companies needed for the very existence of the state. "

"Such companies are not right to give them but are factors that are important to the company itself. This is in contrast to tourism companies and other companies where we are not shareholders and the public should not lend to them mainly now that there is more widespread outbreak and major damage as well as long-term economic problems."