For a long time, a prominent media platform was given to the sticks' position regarding the Corona epidemic, when opponents of the closure claimed that its consequences are similar to those of influenza. • Experts who spoke with Israel Today explain why public health should not be played.

• Prof. Yoram Les

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  Screenshot

• More dangerous than the flu, unrecognized and unvaccinated. Corona test in Germany

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  Reuters

• Tel Hashomer Hospital

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  Yossi Zeliger

The corona plague has continued to claim victims around the world for months. Throughout this period, there has been a bitter debate between most of the medical world and various experts regarding the effectiveness of restrictions and closure. Are social distance and closure policies necessary measures or are these measures whose harm outweighs the benefit? From time to time, the position of the sticks is prominent in the television channels. "Israel Today" brings you the position of the medical establishment. 

Corona disease, opponents argue, the most prominent of which in Israel is Prof. Yoram Les, is fundamentally similar to seasonal flu and the death toll does not really justify any restrictions. According to them, most of the victims are people of very advanced age or those suffering from severe background illnesses. Beyond that, the restrictions and closure are in themselves detrimental to public health. For example, it has been argued that there has been an increase in the rate of depression and anxiety among the public as a result of closure, social isolation and rising unemployment. 

Photo: Reuters

A new, more contagious and deadly virus

Prof. Ronit Calderon-Margalit of the Hebrew University School of Public Health noted that her most significant reservation about Professor Les' remarks is his use of communication in a reality in which experts need to discuss and determine a comprehensive government policy that manages risks.

"First, the corona is not the flu. It is not the flu because we have the flu vaccine. It is not the flu because it is much more contagious, it is more lethal and conservative estimates speak of a mortality rate that if we take the number of 2,000 patients per day today. Mortality - we will have a terrible number. "

"After all this, the corona has a health aspect that is not related to death at all but to lasting effects," added Prof. Ronit Calderon-Margalit. "We do not know to the end how the corona will affect us in the end, but there is already a lot of evidence of associated damage. In other words, it is not at all right to take only those who die from the disease and examine where they died more, because there is a continuation of the damage to a much greater extent here. "

According to her, there is an encounter here with a new virus with extensive, more deadly and more contagious damage that we have not yet been exposed to all its consequences. Despite this, Prof. Calderon-Margalit emphasized that she does not support the closure and supports the "risk management" position of the Commissioner for the Fight against the Corona in Israel, Prof. Roni Gamzo. "It is necessary to preserve society as much as possible, to reduce the damage as much as possible. In this respect, there is a discussion of values, of economic price and human life. I believe that such a discussion should not be conducted superficially in the media. There are certainly considerations here and there, how much to harm. How far away, what are the damages, certainly there is a price for closures and that decisions do not have to be made quickly. "

"The corona itself is also mentally hurtful"

Dr. Rivka Abulafia-Lapid is a specialist in virology and microbiology at the Hebrew University. She mentions, for example, that the fact that there are vaccines for influenza, known to the human body and the medical establishment, reduces mortality. However, according to her, corona virus is not known to the body. "It probably comes from bats and does not resemble the flu because the mortality rate from it is much higher and varies between countries," Dr. Abulafia-Lapid noted.

"Beyond that, we need to understand that we know what the side effects of the flu are," explains Abulafia-Lapid, "what it does to the body - it is a short and familiar injury. Corona disease is completely different and we have not yet learned all its harms. They are not only during the disease but after. People need to understand, the corona attacks the blood vessels, the lungs, produces an acute reaction of the immune system and in fact the damage lasts long after the person recovers.

"For example, some people later suffer from shortness of breath, some have muscle pain. Blood clots also form that travel in the body and produce inflammation, heart damage and brain damage. In general, the damage produced by the disease in the neurological field is not yet completely known. There is already evidence of "People who experience depression, to which the sense of taste has not returned. That is, there is a large gap both in the percentage of mortality and beyond in the form of accompanying damage to the system. Only the severe outbreak of our immune system is harmful to the body later."

Dr. Rivka Abulafia-Lapid also referred to the background diseases from which corona victims suffer. "For example, patients like me who have coronary heart disease severely affect them. Now my mother has been suffering from high blood pressure since the age of 80 and I too can live for many years. Does Prof. Les want to prevent us from making a contribution to society. It is not only blood diseases but also diabetes, also obesity, there are lots of aspects that young and active people are at risk from the disease. Therefore, in fact, someone who does not obey the instructions harms not only himself, an injury whose dimensions are not yet known, but is harmful to his family, to friends and those around him. "

Regarding the mental and general damages following the closure, the expert explained that today it is clear that there is no need for a closure as it was in the beginning, but for social distance and not staying in large groups in closed places.

"There is learning and error here, while on the move," she added, "this disease is new and acted right at first. Today we know that it is possible by social distance, hygiene, open spaces and a small crowd, to open gyms, restaurants, cultural institutions. Beyond that. When it comes to mental injuries, you need to know that the corona itself is also mentally hurtful. I know people who have become depressed because of job losses or closures. I have hurt myself financially because I can not lecture. But this damage with all the pain is smaller. I'm not in favor. Absolute closure, but also not in favor of the reality of allowing any restraint.This is a mistake that will do several times more damage than damage.

"Yes there is an economic price when we fight such a serious disease. In general corona is the disease and we have drugs that are also partial closures and reduced activity. So it is true that they have side effects but that is how we deal with every disease." 

Abulafia-Lapid assumes that next year there will already be a vaccine and we will be able to return to routine. However, she warns not to rely on stick positions. "It has not been proven, for example, that there is herd immunity and those who are infected cannot be infected again. This is a serious and new disease so people will not play with their health and wait and pay the price - it is better than blood clots in the body, breathing damage, muscle pain, blood or heart disease. "In any case, I call on the public to obey the instructions of Prof. Gamzo, who seems to be a true leader and the right executioner at this time."