Despite strict procedures and capsule maintenance guidelines, nine firefighters were injured in the corona and another 20 were sent for isolation • The reason?
Disregard for guidelines and shared meals without masks or distance • The safety of 300,000 people was in jeopardy due to lawlessness • Fire and Rescue Commission: "The incident is taken seriously"
Contagion failure
Photography:
Joshua Joseph, illustration
The lawlessness that endangered the lives of hundreds of thousands of people: "
Israel Today" has learned that the fire station in Nazareth, which is responsible for the safety of about 300,000 people, was almost shut down, after about nine firefighters were diagnosed with blue in Corona, and another 20 were sent to solitary confinement. Which led to the spread of the corona virus at the station.
The spread of the disease was due to the alleged contempt of the firefighters for detailed instructions from the fire brigade to prevent precisely such cases, including adherence to regular shifts, capsules and adherence to full buffering between shifts.
According to the investigation, despite the strict instructions, the firefighters held mass events in their spare time - events that led to the mass infection at the station.
The snowball rolling at the Nazareth station began two days before Rosh Hashanah when the first firefighter from shift A was diagnosed with blue.
Within a week there were already nine verified patients at the station from three different shifts.
In addition to patients, dozens of workers who came in contact with them have been placed in home isolation while many others are afraid to reach the fire station.
"No wonder the firefighters got infected with each other"
As the district officers delved deeper into the epidemiological investigations of the Nazareth station, there was increasing evidence that firefighters were disregarding life-saving operational guidelines while endangering their health.
Officers received photos documenting mass meetings of firefighters at restaurants two weeks before the outbreak of mass morbidity at the station while firefighters accused the media of their commander of the disease.
Such a meeting was held on August 27 in Afula with the participation of about 15 station firefighters, who sat down to a joint meal and celebrated in a restaurant full of many dozens of people without any mask or distance as required.
Four days later, 12 more firefighters arrived at the same restaurant, and they too did not bother to maintain social distance.
Sources in the fire and rescue system, who were exposed to the details of the case, noted that "it is no wonder that in a short time the firefighters became infected and by the second half of September there were already dozens of firefighters sick or in isolation."
The firefighter was diagnosed with blue, and came out of isolation in less than a week
Another case, and no less serious, is the story of firefighter K., who a few days after attending a Rosh Hashanah meal with his shift friends without adhering to social distance procedures, developed corona symptoms and was diagnosed as positive for the virus.
After the diagnosis, K. went into solitary confinement, even less than a week after entering solitary confinement - Ber was seen in public while presenting a certificate of exit from solitary confinement.
The Northern District is currently investigating the cause of the early medical release from solitary confinement and whether the firefighter arrived after the New Year on duty at the station suffering from Corona symptoms while endangering his friends.
A senior officer, who is involved in the details of the case, says: "The commanders of the Northern District take the conduct of the firefighter very seriously, it seems that there will be no escape from his immediate suspension and dismissal.
"Especially in light of the fact that the Minister of Internal Security fired a prisoner for the exact same case only recently."
Northern District Commander Tafsar Nizar Fares on conducting an exhaustive and prompt district investigation to examine whether violating firefighters' orders led to the outbreak of the Corona virus at the Nazareth station.
Next week, the investigation is expected to be completed, which will result in heavy penalties for violators of the guidelines.
The Fire and Rescue Commission responded:
"We take the incident seriously and expect operational and value-based behavior at the highest level of all employees of the unit.
