A group of experts from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem issued a public letter on Sunday warning that if the current coronavirus infection rate continued through the coming days, a major lockdown would have to be imposed on significant parts of the country
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In the letter, the academics said that the impact of the latest restrictions' on public gatherings and the increased enforcement of the mandatory mask requirement would only become apparent by the weekend.
"The rate of infection appears to be stabilizing, but not enough," they wrote. "At the current reproduction rate, Israel will have to ratchet up the preventive measures at the start of next week, starting on July 19, in order to avoid the overwhelming of the healthcare system," the noted. "These steps can be in the form of regional, widespread lockdowns or a nationwide lockdown," they continued, urging that the government take a strong enforcement posture to ensure "absolutely no public gatherings at confined spaces."
The signatories of the letter said the most important metric is the number of COVID-19 patients who are in severe or moderate conditions. "The number of people who are on ventilators is a lagging indicator of 10 to 13 days," they stressed.
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