Deputy Health Secretary Professor Itamar Grotto warns of extreme scenario • "The death toll could be traumatic and go through the numbers of the worst wars we knew" • "We ordered over a dictionary, this problem has dropped out of the chapter" • Flex the criteria for testing "

• Prof. Itamar Grotto. "Up to 20,000 could die from Corona" // Photo: Coco

• Coffins in Italy // Photo: AFP

• Photo: Coco

• Corona tests at MDA position // Photo: Oren Ben Hakon

"In the most difficult scenarios, the death rate from Corona will be between ten thousand and twenty thousand people," according to Health Ministry Deputy Director-General Professor Itamar Grotto on Sunday, adding that "some of these people are people with additional illnesses who would die, if Not from Corona then for another reason like the flu. ”This is in addition to 40,000 deaths in Israel each year.

Asked why such dramatic measures of closure and isolation are not being seen, Grotto replied that "such a death toll is traumatic. In the worst Israeli war, not so many people died within a few months."

Following the criticism of the e-mail messages from patients, which is based on information from the ISA, Prof. Grotto said that there is an application that is expected to be launched today, where people can come in independently and check if they were near a Corona patient. The electronic. The system does not fully respond and independent investigations are needed, ”he said.

He also noted that in the next few days about half a million blood tests will be available to identify corona virus. The tests are intended to serve as a survey of the corona's prevalence in the population, and will not be used to isolate or provide treatment. These are serological tests that identify two types of antibodies, and can also be detected in a person without symptoms if they are infected now or in the past. The tests will probably come into use by next week. The survey may be conducted by MDA and may be in a different way.

"There are mathematical models and statistical calculations designed to estimate how many patients there are in the population of Israel. The hypotheses range from about two thousand to ten thousand and even more, so we will take a series of surveys to identify the prevalence of the virus in the population. I estimate that the morbidity would otherwise be seen in the data of the Center for Disease Control. To clinics. "

He also updated that the "intrusive crisis" that limited the number of lab tests was over. "I have orders of over a million coins. From tomorrow onwards no shortage is expected. I downloaded this problem from the chapter. Today there are close to 5,000 coins and Tuesday there will be about 10-15 thousand a day until the end of the event. There are three Israeli companies that can do the production Of land and test tubes in the country. "

At the hearing held this morning, Grotto noted, it was decided to further tighten the criteria for corona testing so that they would be more easily approved for suspected blue-collar medical staff, for certain cases in hospitals, and perhaps for certain conditions in community clinics. At the beginning of his remarks, he was asked to address last night's News 12 on the crisis between him and the CEO, saying: "The relationship between me and the CEO is excellent and there is no conflict between us beyond professional disagreements here and there."

He also noted in light of the tension with the Ministry of Defense in managing the incident: "The role of the Ministry of Defense is to make available to the Ministry of Health and to let it manage. The person who has to make the decisions is the Ministry of Health."