Ministers will consider closing trade, including street shops and markets • Independents will demonstrate: "We will not obey" • Researchers from the Hebrew University: up to 2,000 dead in the coming months
New restrictions on the chapter: Following the jump in morbidity data, the Corona cabinet is expected to convene this afternoon.
Ministers will examine new and significant restrictions, including the cessation of trade, including in street shops and markets.
The Carmel Market opens // Archive photo: Gil Kramer
Finance Minister Israel Katz said ahead of the meeting: "I will present a clear position against a total closure of trade, except in the red and orange cities only."
He said, "Only now is the trade open and business owners should be allowed to make a living. Enforcement should be increased in the known disease hotspots."
The Ministry of Health and the National Security Council support the adoption of the "tightened restraint" policy, in accordance with a previous cabinet decision.
Business owners: "We are collapsing"
At the same time, business owners fear the government's expected decision to close trade, in line with the "tight restraint" policy.
They threaten not to obey such a directive, if it arrives, and intend to demonstrate this afternoon.
"We can not, we are collapsing," shares Oded Babai, the organizer of the demonstrations in south Tel Aviv and an importer and business owner.
"We will block Jaffa Street in Tel Aviv. We are committing a war crime. After eight months of not working, they want to eliminate us once and for all, so we will not be silent."
"Business owners are like the soldiers who are left in the field," adds Daniel Hazot, owner of the Godfather restaurant in Jerusalem.
"There is no need to close the business at all during this period. I can commit to the distance between tables, we will keep the rules."
Experts: Education - OK
in the meantime, experts from the Hebrew University last night published a gloomy forecast regarding the outbreak of the plague in the coming months.
According to the researchers, there has been a significant increase in moderate and severe patients, especially in the ultra-Orthodox sector.
The current rise, according to researchers, is due to the opening of trading.
They emphasize that the opening of the education system did not cause an increase in the rate of infection and that there is no abnormal outbreak in the system.
Investigators predict that in such a situation, immediate entry into "tight restraint" would lead to further mortality, ranging from 800 deaths at best to 2,000 deaths at worst.
They add that based on the assumption that there will be rapid vaccination activity alongside restraint measures, it appears that the health care system will not reach a state of failure in terms of dealing with the corona and with the flu at the same time.
According to data from the Ministry of Health, 2,815 new carriers were identified on Friday, out of 75,232 tests performed - a rate of 3.7% positive tests.
The number of active patients in Israel is 23,917, and the number of serious patients is 445. The death toll from the epidemic is 3,070.