The assessment is that the number of corona patients is far greater than the report ("Irrelevant test methods") • Traffic restrictions will continue even after the holiday ("The crisis will not end soon) • And the big concern: Mass adhesion in Passover (" Fighting brakes ") • Ronnie Nome, interview First for "Israel Today"

• Ronnie Nome (center) in the Emergency Brigade and the checkpoint at the entrance to Bnei Brak \\ Photo: AFP

"We are currently fighting a braking battle. We must significantly increase the number of tests we carry out in Bnei Brak. If this does not happen immediately, we will be in a much more serious crisis," warns Gen. (Res.) Ronnie Numa, Bnei Brak's emergency team chief The crisis in the city.

In a special interview with Israel Today, Noma says that "there are about 1,000 verified patients in the city, but I estimate the numbers are much higher. The number of isolates is also far greater than reported, partly because of the methods used in the country (mainly by cellular phone)." L) are not as relevant to a city as Bnei Brak, where 50 percent of residents do not have an advanced telephone. "

Bnei Brak streets after the closure \ Photo: June Rickner, Paz Bar

Numa says Bnei Brak is in a severe functional crisis. "We are now trying to build a system that will give us a better view of what is happening in the city in terms of the state of medicine, logistics and welfare." As part of this, the Home Front and Intelligence Division 98 officials were instructed to build an accurate intelligence picture of what was happening in the city. The goal, according to Numa, "is to know what's going on in every apartment in Bnei Brak."

In addition, a party will be responsible for what is done on every street, and later on for each building. "Each soldier will have 5-4 families with whom he will be in regular contact, and his job will be to make sure they are OK and meet their needs," Nome says. "The residents of Bnei Brak are beginning to understand that we really came to help them. It will take another two days, but I think by the middle of the week they will already fully trust us and understand that we did not come to strangle them or put them in the ghetto as some claimed, but to help."

The soldiers will move in the streets of Bnei Brak in uniform, but without weapons and with orange vests and hats. "They will not deal with law and order but only with assistance," Numa clarifies. "I am aware of the advantages and disadvantages it has, but at the moment it is in crisis and a solution is needed. It is life-saving for everything."

"The situation in Bnei Brak is unique"

Numa says a lightning battle is now underway in Bnei Brak to prevent widespread contamination in Corona outside the city. "I suppose the existing policy of restricting traffic in and out of Barak's buildings will be maintained," he explains. "It won't last for a few days or weeks, and I also don't see it coming back to normal after Passover. It will take many weeks, maybe longer. Maybe in other places it will take less time, but not in Bnei Brak."

Why?

"Because we can't do it until the entire city population is tested, and we know who is sick and healthy, which means it belongs to the same immune population that can be released to return to normal and begin to bring the city back to activity. It requires starting serological tests (blood tests for antibody detection; JL) ) Extensive. In the meantime, that's not happening. "

The defense minister talked about removing the entire elderly population at risk from the city.

"There are many good ideas, but they are not applicable. If we bring the entire elderly population to the hotel, and if one of them is ill, we will get a whole Corona Hotel. And we are talking about a public that has some nursing or needs special needs, which will be difficult to handle outside the home."

So what's the solution?

"Work faster. Check, and answer. Try as much as you can to isolate the adults inside the houses, but the main thing is tests. More and more tests. We are in big trouble in this regard."

The public cooperates with you?

"I understand that there were quite a few difficulties at first, but once Rabbi Kanievsky understood the matter and said clear things - the results are evident on the ground. It should be understood that this public does not see the same news as us, and it needs a special explanation, which involves a lot of complexity. But it is also a disciplined population. Very much, that follows the guidelines it receives from rabbis and doctors, and that's how we try to influence them. "

What are you missing?

"The government system is harnessed, but there are quite a few bottlenecks. I will say again and again that the main problem is the small number of tests, which just doesn't fit the population in a place like Bnei Brak, because if the infection rate is around 3 percent, here it is 6 percent, Of the spread of the disease, so it is critical to check fast and much.

Numa talks about other problems that stem mainly from the bureaucracy in government and public sector processes. Thus, the patient's contact takes place with his or her doctor from the health fund, but in order to decide where the hospitalization will be - in a hospital, in a hotel or in the patient's home - a much higher level of approval is required. "It sometimes takes a day, and we don't have time because of the danger of infection. We need much faster answers. We need all the powers here on the ground."

What will Passover look like in Bnei Brak?

"Today we are clear that Purim was a catalyst for contagion. If the population is not disciplined, Passover could be a similar accelerator. The rabbis understand this and cooperate with us, for example in determining how the holiday laws will take place. I hope the public will cooperate."

Numa's main concern is that the older population of the city will participate in Passover arrangements and be exposed to the disease. In any case, he says, many in the city do not report being sick, for fear of leaving the house before the holiday and leaving their family alone. As part of the explanatory effort today, leaflets will be distributed to every home, where the rabbis will make it clear to the public the need to fulfill the guidelines in full.

There was a lot of criticism about how the ultra-Orthodox public began in the epidemic.

"This is not the time for criticism, even if some of it is justified. Right now, the important thing is to raise them and help this population."

For this reason, Numa - who was formerly Commander of the Sheldag Unit, Commander of the Nahal Brigade and Central Command General - volunteered for the mission. "I did not hesitate for a moment," he says. "It was impossible not to comply with their request."

We are now talking about the crises on the way - Elad, Mea Shearim in Jerusalem, Tiberias, and also Arab and Bedouin concentrations. How should you drive there in your opinion?

"Immediately need to build a dedicated suit for any potential focus. Understand what to do, how to influence the population, what the limitations and needs are. These places cannot be treated with the usual stanzas. They need to bring them operative ability that works at a much higher rate."