After the Corona committee decided to allow the restaurants to open, Health Minister Edelstein convened a press conference at which he referred to a vote taken contrary to his office's position. • The committee described the committee's conduct as "populist and childish."
Health Minister Yuli Edelstein today (Tuesday) referred to the Corona Committee's decision this morning to allow the restaurants to open - contrary to the government's position - in the previous format whereby restaurant owners could serve 20 customers inside and 30 outside. In a media statement from Rambam Hospital, Minister Edelstein said: "The childish and populist behavior in the discussions in the Corona Committee will inevitably lead us to a full closure in the country."
The Minister of Health said in a statement: "I do not know what stems from the optimism of some people who talk about a slowdown in the rate of increase of those infected and seriously ill. The numbers are still very high. We find it very difficult to pass even minimal restrictions in the economy. "The feeling of the citizens who feel confused. The confusion does not stem from the decisions of the Ministry of Health, the confusion stems from inaccuracies in reports and struggles that develop in the government and the Knesset. For every industry we start a hard fight for one standard or another."
The minister added: "Let it not be misunderstood - my heart goes out to the businessmen, to all the victims. They must receive very significant assistance from the state, but if we really want any reason for true optimism we should all mobilize to lower infection rates. And also to teams in the community to care for fewer patients, and eventually we will be able to reach numbers that we can take control of through our epidemiological investigations and learn to live a corona routine properly.
"The Ministry of Health's demand was to close the restaurants, not because I do not like to sit in a restaurant. People eat together at the same table without masks, I do not know how to eat with a mask. There the infection occurs. The childish demands to bring accurate data on how many were infected in the restaurant and gym. "People who have no green idea what an epidemiological inquiry is. We base our decisions on international data, consultation with stakeholders. I am very sorry that every time a populist discourse develops around these issues."
Regarding the appointment of a projector for the Corona crisis, the Minister said: "I very much hope that we will soon be able to announce with whom we have finally agreed on the management of the event, and this matter will be of great help to us and the whole system in Corona care."
Photo: Knesset Channel
Yesterday it was reported that Minister Edelstein has formulated an outline according to which it will be possible to serve up to 50 people in restaurants outside, when sitting inside will be banned.
During the discussion in the Corona committee this morning, the committee's chairman, MK Yifat Shasha-Bitton, referred to the nightly negotiations with the Ministry of Health that ended without an outline for opening the restaurants: "We realized at the meeting yesterday afternoon that they are ready to open restaurants outside. We asked for an opening inside the restaurants for 35-25 percent of the occupancy. I agreed to give it up for a while, but they insisted on 50 people out there. I do not know how to explain this insistence to the public and restaurateurs. We need guidelines for the public to understand that he is our main partner in the war against the virus. "
Coalition chairman MK Miki Zohar tweeted following the committee's decision, in which he wrote: "The government has offered a reasonable compromise to restaurateurs to help them work according to the circumstances. Unfortunately, the committee chairman has fallen into the trap set by the opposition, which is willing to endanger public health. Just so the government falls. "It is a pity that MK Shasha-Bitton went after them. The essence of the vote received today in the Korna committee is populism that defeated common sense."
• The Corona Commission has confirmed: The restaurants that closed this morning will reopen
• Outline to outline: Minister Edelstein is expected to present a new plan for opening restaurants
• After a day: The nurses' strike ended
In recent days, Minister Edelstein has addressed another burning issue - the nurses' strike, which was announced last night after taking place for one day. Finance Minister Israel Katz and chairman of the Histadrut Brothers and Sisters Ilana Cohen agreed on an outline for dealing immediately with the severe shortage of brothers and sisters.
At the end of the meeting it was agreed that the nurses would return to their regular work starting this morning. This, as part of the agreement between the parties, according to which they will immediately absorb 2,000 nursing standards in addition to the existing standards, of which 1,600 for the inpatient system and 400 for the community and public health system, in order to deal with the loads in which the system is located.
In a press release, Edelstein clarified: "Everyone who is absorbed into the system - will be absorbed permanently. The nurses enter the health system to stay. We do not play with humans. Since the reality is that there is no budget yet for years to come, we wrote as a separate clause."
