Why Israel is putting containment back on the table

Real measure or carrot for vaccination?

On Wednesday July 14, Naftali Bennett, Israeli Prime Minister, hypothesized a possible containment in the face of an increase in cases, caused by the Delta variant of Covid-19.

According to him, "

the easiest would be to do what has been done over the past year and a half, that is to say to announce a lockdown.

But we prefer another approach, maybe we will have to come to these hard ways, but for us it is the last solution,

”transcribed i24NEWS, the Israeli international news channel.

To discover

• Covid-19: what we know about the Delta variant

To read also: In Israel, 40% of vaccinated among the new contaminations: is this a failure?

The Prime Minister continues: "

As part of this new wave due to the Delta variant, we want to give the chance to another path, a path which is trust, cooperation with citizens (...) to be able to defeat the coronavirus without confinement but that depends on you

”. He then encourages the population which is not yet vaccinated, that is to say a million and a half people according to him, to take the plunge.

The words of Naftali Bennett are reacting in France, where an atmosphere of revolt is felt in the face of the health pass announced by the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron on Monday.

We therefore sought to know why a country like Israel could have to re-limit its population to 60% vaccinated?

Can the measure be taken soon, or is it rather a strategy to encourage people to vaccinate?

Increase in cases, but little impact on hospitalizations

Israel is currently in full epidemic recovery since mid-June, as can be seen in the diagram below.

On average, 560 new contaminations have been counted over the last seven days, including a peak noted on July 13, with 1275 new contaminations in one day.

Asked by

Le Figaro

, Jonathan Roux, epidemiologist at the School of Advanced Studies in Public Health, made the same observation: "

Today, we are talking about 800 new cases, which is an important level for a country of this size

" . According to him, “

we mainly observe clusters among young people and the unvaccinated. But some vaccinated people will also be cases

”, because the vaccine does not protect 100%, he recalls.

However, Jonathan Roux wishes to qualify these figures. While the number of cases is increasing, hospitalizations remain stable for the moment. However, the choice of confinement is generally made to "

avoid saturation in hospitals

", recalls the epidemiologist. “

And for now, this is not the case in Israel,

” he adds.

Is it related to the Delta variant or to the vaccination? Even if the vaccination can always lead to a potential contamination of the patient, this mainly avoids the serious forms. “

If we take the example of the United Kingdom, they have 40,000 new cases a day and 500 people in hospital,

” begins Jonathan Roux. “

There is a correlation between the two, but the hospitalization rate is lower than in previous waves.

"So if Israel is currently evoking a potential reconfinement, it is surely"

a strategy to recall the worst scenario

", analyzes the epidemiologist,"

unless we observe a wave of significant hospitalization

".

Read also: Covid-19 and travel: Delta variant, health pass, vaccine, restrictions ... Where can the French go this summer?

Our updated maps

Israel facing glass ceiling for 4 months

As the Israeli Prime Minister clarified, there would still be a million and a half people to be vaccinated in order to be able to get rid of the virus completely.

To achieve collective immunity, with the Delta variant, "

it would be necessary to reach 80% of people vaccinated

" adds Jonathan Roux.

However, Israel has observed for three to four months a vaccine glass ceiling at 60% of its population.

Reinforced barrier gestures

But before taking drastic measures, the Prime Minister mentions other health measures. The Hebrew state is reinstating the mask indoors and asking people to wear it outdoors if they are in a crowd, or somewhere where social distancing cannot be respected. In particular, police checks have been stepped up. “

We cannot have people who, out of laziness, harm all citizens,

” explains the Prime Minister.

Borders are still closed to enter Israeli territory, the prime minister advises his citizens to avoid vacationing outside the country. "

Do not book your vacation abroad, in a short time all countries will be classified red and your vacation will be canceled,

" he warns. It remains to be seen whether these announcements will be heard by unvaccinated citizens, and if not, what measures will be taken.