Cabinet of Experts: "The extent of the ongoing corona morbidity over the past month has taken a heavy toll, committing policy change" | Israel today

On the way to new restrictions?

The cabinet of experts advising the government convened yesterday (Wednesday) and recommended a change in policies to reduce morbidity, while changing the outline of education.

Also update the green label, impose convergence events and make the vaccines accessible to 800,000 adults and teens who have not been vaccinated in the first dose.

In addition, promoting the widest possible provision of the drug Regjankov and building a plan for investment in the health system. 

"The extent of the ongoing illness in the past month has taken a heavy toll on the population," they said, adding: "Despite the hope of a reduction in morbidity due to the vaccination campaign, it is impossible and unlikely to continue on the existing route."

They claim that the Cabinet of Experts originally presented a number of possible strategies (eradication, containment and absorption) and recommended adhering to one of them.

The government has opted for an intermediate option - an 'absorption' policy for an indefinite period, with almost no major effort to curb and reduce infections, and in the event of reaching the threshold of critically ill, return to containment efforts.

But as warned in advance this method is ineffective.

"A long series of critical braking tools (tools focused on and around the infected such as epidemiological investigation, early detection, careful isolation and enforcement) are no longer applicable at a stage where there are 8,000 to 10,000 infected per day. Selective people who by their nature are more detrimental to the economy and less acceptable to the public.

"As a conclusion to the medium term and after the fourth wave - this approach of difficult management to a very advanced stage - is dangerous, and the approach that operates a wider range of tools (green mark, crowd limit) at an earlier stage - is correct in looking at the fourth wave lessons so far."

They added: "Future perception of vaccines as a response alone carries with it an excessive risk - and additional tools must be incorporated both in the response now and in the policy prepared for the next event."

Prioritize young patients

Next, they referred to the education outline and argued that a new outline based on non-isolation tests should be formulated only after the significance of the step in terms of adherence to pilots to a sufficient extent becomes clear.

Vaccination of teenagers at the National Health Fund in Rishon Lezion, last week // Photo: Yossi Zeliger,

"In the population where schools have remained open - in the Arab sector, a significant increase has been observed in recent weeks, especially at school age. This has also happened in the ultra-Orthodox society around A. Elul. A similar trend if We are already struggling to provide optimal care for all patients in need of intensive care and Acme, we may reach difficult events of prioritizing young patients in need of critical care - in Corona and routine diseases. That's right- this is critical. "

Finally, they commented on the children's vaccine and said: "The vaccine is on the doorstep and is likely to be approved in the coming weeks by the FDA.

The experts who participated in the discussion: Prof. Ran Blitzer, Prof. Nachman Ash, Dr. Sharon Elrai Price, Prof. Arnon Afek, Prof. Nadav Davidovich, Dr. Lia Moran-Gilad, Prof. Salman Zarka, Yoram Hamo, D. R. Boaz Lev, Dr. Adi Niv-Yagoda and Prof. Galia Rahav.

Load on Acme devices 

The discussion was held against the background of the severe morbidity data as well as the load on the Acme devices, which is already harming patients' lives and the quality of treatment. 

5,921 verified Corona were discovered in the last day, 726 in critical condition and 197 respirators, 40 of whom are connected to an Acmo machine.

The number of active carriers in Israel is 69,076.

At the same time, the coefficient of infection decreased to 0.81. 

Four days ago, a meeting was held between the director general of the Ministry of Health, Prof. Nachman Ash, and the hospital directors, in which he said that the number of patients breathing using an Acmo device (artificial heart-lung device) is 40, with only 80 devices in Israel and not all for Corona. Also, there are hospitals, including Hillel Yaffe in Hadera, that have not been approved for this device.