After about six hours, the Corona cabinet's debate ended without any decisions being made. • During the debate, Netanyahu said a team would be set up to deal with the corona mutation that came from Britain. % "
The corona cabinet meeting that convened this morning (Sunday) ended after about six hours, without its members being able to reach any agreements.
Operation "Give Shoulder" launched: Medical teams in hospitals begin to be vaccinated // Photo: Yoni Rickner
The cabinet convened following the spike in morbidity data from the Corona virus and after this morning began the largest vaccination campaign in the country's history, to discuss measures that are expected to be taken in an attempt to eradicate the plague in Israel.
Ministers discussed ways to deal with the existence of a new strain of the virus that came from the UK, and decided that returnees from the kingdom, Denmark and South Africa would be required to enter isolation in hotels.
In addition, the ministers examined new and significant restrictions, including the cessation of trade, including in street shops and markets.
The decision to isolate the returnees from the three countries was made in the Cabinet at a time when two flights were making their way to Israel from the UK, with about 120 passengers on board who did not know they would have to evacuate for isolation after landing.
The families of the passengers were furious at the decision: "They were not told which hotel it was, nothing. There is a feeling as if they are being kidnapped. My daughter called crying, she got on the plane knowing she was coming to isolation at home and is now forced to travel to the hotel. It is a very difficult and illogical decision." .
During the cabinet meeting, Science and Technology Minister Yizhar Shai said that a state would have to act on the assumption that populations at risk in the country would already be vaccinated by the end of February 2021. "Hence, the danger to human life will drop by 90% by then, and maybe even more "We will still wear masks, we will still maintain distance and other provisions related to Corona, but the danger to serious patients, to inadequacies in the health system, to the death of the masses - the danger to all of these will decrease dramatically."
Minister Shai proposed two principles for dealing with the plague: the first is to ensure that the health system does not collapse under the burden of corona patients who are in a difficult situation, the second is to ensure that the state has control over the disease situation in the country.
Therefore, he says, he says he does not think there is a need for "tight restraint" but to continue with "a policy of advocacy, differential closures on centers of illness, enforcement and fines. Do not close trade, do not close markets and shops, do not close anything open now."
He added that if there were 1,500 patients in critical condition, Israel should impose a three-week deputy who would be received with about two weeks' notice so that all residents of the country could organize for it accordingly.
Referring to the education system, he said he believes it should remain open across the country and in any situation - including on days when there will be a closure, if any.
"In recent days, an in-depth and thorough analysis has been carried out by the best experts, which proves that it is better for students to be in their school settings than to be infected elsewhere. I would suggest advancing the vaccine for education workers, as one of the more likely concerns is that many students become infected or endanger their lives. Of the educational staff. "
At the beginning of the cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was the first to be vaccinated among the country's citizens, referred to the corona mutation in Britain and said: "We will set up a ministerial team to deal with the mutation in Britain. "From all over the world and give only to business people in accordance with the procedure. Limit circulars to pious isolation. Our price for non-reference is small in case a vaccine does not neutralize the mutation."
Netanyahu continued: "We will make sure to bring back all Israelis as we did in the past. We can stop the entry of this virus into the country."
"We have no indication at the moment that the vaccine we have is not overcoming the new mutation. To the best of our knowledge it is overcoming it. Of course we are examining it and following this development closely."
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri also referred to the new strain of the virus and said that isolating returnees from abroad may help eradicate the mutation in Israel. "If we force people returning to Israel to enter isolation in hotels, which is a painful decision, it will lead to the desired result in terms of the mutation," Deri said. In the discussion.
The Carmel Market opens // Archive photo: Gil Kramer
Prior to the meeting, Finance Minister Israel Katz said he intended to present "a clear position against a total closure of trade, but only in the red and orange cities." He said, "Only now is trade open and business owners should be allowed to make a living.
Enforcement should be stepped up in the known 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.
Traders set fire to tires in Tel Aviv
Following the fear of the possibility that they would be forced to close their stores, merchants on Jaffa Street in Tel Aviv demonstrated in the area and even set fire to tires.
Oded Babai, the organizer of the demonstrations in south Tel Aviv, an importer and business owner named "Fashion Como" in the area, told Israel Today that the demonstration was organized in favor of "an authentic protest against our bread and our livelihood. We burned tires because the burning tire is our lobbyist. "Lobbyists, we are the common people, the aristocracy of the public sector decides on us. They themselves do not give up a penny but decide to shut us down. The French Revolution arose because of this thing, because of pleasure-filled rulers. The citizens are hungry for bread."
Pessimistic forecast
Meanwhile, experts from the Hebrew University released a gloomy forecast yesterday regarding the outbreak of the plague in the coming months.
According to the researchers, there has been a significant increase in patients in a moderate and severe condition, 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 dead at best to 2,000 dead at worst.
They added 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 the flu at the same time.
Ariel Kahana, Assaf Golan and Yahali Yaakovi-Handelsman participated in the preparation of the article
