Israel assesses: The question is not when, but when will the virus come? Less than the SARS

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the Corona epidemic this weekend, saying: "We are not taking any unnecessary risks. We are aware that the virus cannot be completely prevented, so we are preparing to deal with it after its first entry into Israel."

Today, Netanyahu will convene a multi-stakeholder debate that will include government ministers, office executives and all relevant headquarters to discuss national preparedness and the corona virus.

Over the weekend, the Foreign Ministry issued a travel warning and recommendation to Israelis not to fly to China. Israeli citizens who are in the country were advised to leave. In addition, all Israeli border crossings were closed to travelers entering China, with the exception of Israelis returning to Israel, who were asked to stay in solitary confinement for two weeks after returning from China. It also says that Israeli citizens staying in China should consider leaving.

According to the instructions of the Minister of Health, Yaakov Litzman, last night, the Director General of the Ministry of Health, Moshe Bar Good, issued two new provisions aimed at preventing the entry of the virus as far as possible.

The first provision is intended to allow the Population Authority to prohibit the entry of non-residents of Israel into China for the last 14 days. In addition, an order will be issued to require residents of Israel who have stayed in China for the past 14 days to stay in home isolation.

At the end of the week, Interior Minister Aryeh Deri ordered people to stay in Israel for the past two weeks who are not citizens or residents of China. Following the decision, about 30 Chinese civilians landed at the airport on a flight from a European airplane company arriving in Russia yesterday were sent to Moscow. Dozens of Israelis were allowed into the country, according to the Ministry of Health, which prohibited Israeli citizens from entering Israel on Thursday.

All this is happening while the World Health Organization has declared that the Corona virus is a global public health emergency, but has nevertheless recommended not to close the border crossings.

The Foreign Ministry noted that the travel warning not to fly to China is valid as long as the emergency remains in place. Rabbi Shalom Hazan, who lives in Shenzhen, told Israel Today about the anxiety in China, shortly before escaping to Israel: "The situation here is not very good. The government is only publishing official data and we do not really know what is happening. People walk with their hands in their pockets, And those are the brave who come out. "

Ministry of Health Director General Moshe Bar Seaman Tov said, "We prepare and prepare the health funds and hospitals. The advice we give: cough into the elbow, wash hands and maintain hygiene. "

The death toll from the Corona virus reached 259 over the past weekend, and the number of patients infected with the virus is about 12,000. As part of the containment efforts, Australia and Japan joined the United States and other countries that prevented foreigners from staying in China recently. The Japanese restricted the ban to residents living in Hubei Province, where the epidemic broke out.

The Chinese regime continues its desperate steps to stop the spread of the virus. Yesterday, the Global Times, a Chinese tabloid released by the regime, published an extraordinary video of authorities operating skiers in which they appear to be patrolling and scolding stunned civilians who walk around without masks or during curfew hours.

The US secretary of state has issued a travel warning in which it recommends that American citizens avoid visiting China. The CNN reported that the Pentagon had set up a thousand-bed hospital to deal with the danger of the virus spreading. On Friday morning, it became clear that the Chinese passenger on the cruise ship Costa Esmeralda, which docked in Italy, was not ill with the virus, and all 6,000 passengers were allowed to leave. The number of patients in the world is higher than previously experienced by the SARS virus. But while the death rate from SARS was about ten percent, the new corona virus mortality rate is much lower, and is only about three percent.
Ariel Kahana, Noam (Dovul) Dvir, Eli Leon, Ilan Gatnio and Yuri Yelon participated in the preparation