Tomorrow: Dramatic discussion in the government on the outline of the closure on holidays • At the center of the ministers' struggle: the restrictions on businesses and restaurants, the outline of prayers and the closure of Ben Gurion Airport • Edelstein: "If they had followed the guidelines we would not have reached this point"
No one wanted to get the new year closed, but the morbidity situation was decisive: Israel is starting the struggle anew.
According to the proposal of the Ministry of Health, which will be submitted to the government for approval today, a general closure will be imposed starting on Friday at 6:00.
As part of the proposed outline, traffic will be limited to 500 meters from the place of residence, the education system itself will move to distance learning as early as Wednesday and Ben Gurion Airport is expected to close for activity.
But this outline is expected to undergo several more changes, both due to political pressure and pressure from other bodies (such as restaurant owners), and at the request of the health system: Unlike the outline published tomorrow, there will be no 500-meter traffic limit in the second phase of the closure.
At this stage, restrictions on moving from city to city are expected to apply.
The Ministry of Health also opposes the outline of prayers, which allows for the presence of 30 or more people in synagogues, and seeks to reduce it.
Exceptions will also be added, as was the case in the previous closure, according to which travel will be allowed for several needs, including transferring children to divorced parents, helping a person in distress, medical treatment, going to court, going out to buy food and medicine, and more.
The proposal to postpone the start of the closure was approved even though about 4,000 new patients a day had been diagnosed for three days.
On Tuesday alone, about 3,962 new blue people were diagnosed with the virus, and 495 patients in critical condition are hospitalized in Israel.
Only 2% in a green locality
Data also show that only 2% of the country's residents live in green localities, where there is no large city, while on Thursday data were presented to the Corona Cabinet according to which 8% of the country's residents live in green cities.
According to the proposed outline, prayers during the Tishrei holidays will be held with a limit of up to 20 people in an open area, while in a closed building where the level of morbidity is high, groups of up to 10 people can be found - with the number allowed Provided that a ratio of one person per 4 square meters of the area is maintained. In a building in another place (where the level of morbidity is not high) groups of up to 25 people can pray, with the number of groups allowed as the number of entrances to the place multiplied by two. (Surface area).
The first phase of the closure is expected to include a complete closure of all businesses.
Essential services, pharmacies and shops selling food will be excluded from the closure.
The restaurants will be able to work in the form of deliveries and collection only.
Under the proposed outline, public-sector jobs will be required to reduce their attendance to 30%.
In private workplaces, the presence of more than 10 employees or 30% of the total number of employees who are usually in them, whichever is higher, will not be allowed, while the activity of vital workplaces continues.
The second phase of the program, which is expected to begin on Sukkot, will be similar to the first phase: traffic restrictions, restrictions on prayers and restrictions on work in the public sector will remain as they are, and the education system and business will remain closed.
The economy will begin to return to a certain activity only in the third stage, and its restrictions will be determined in accordance with the "traffic light" plan.
Prof. Hagai Levin, chairman of the Association of Public Health Physicians and a member of Prof. Gamzo's cabinet of experts, expressed strong opposition to the outline, saying that “the public is not a herd of sheep.
Until now, and even now, the public has a low priority in the set of considerations, so is it any wonder that public trust has cracked? "On the other hand, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein told News 12 yesterday that" I know the heaviest price of closure, and that is why I have been trying for three months. Everything to prevent a closure. "
He said, "If there was enforcement and discipline in 40 closed localities, I would say give the night curfew another chance. You can not ask the police to run after everyone, you can not claim that citizens do not follow the guidelines, that it is a lack of understanding of procedures when having a wedding with a thousand guests ".
He added that "I remember saying three months ago - 'If we are not okay - we will be in quarantine', and unfortunately this is coming true. It is possible to make complaints about enforcement but I repeat, if the simplest things were done, we would not have reached this point. They will stop thinking about closure as punishment, but as a medical act. "