With hours to go before Israel enters a second nationwide lockdown in an attempt to stem the tide of new coronavirus cases, which is threatening to overwhelm the country's health care system, Director-General of the Health Ministry Professor Hezi Levy is denying claims that the decision to shutter the economy until at least Oct. 11 was politically motivated.
In an interview to Israel Hayom, Levy asked, "How can it be political if we're seeing so many patients hospitalized in serious condition?"
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
"What is political about this? Does anyone know anything, anywhere in the world, that will stop an outbreak of coronavirus other than preventing gatherings and infection? There is no way, and prevention starts with each one of us. The public has a right to protest, and there is also a right to public health. We see how we behaved at demonstrations, at weddings, and other gatherings, and the truth is hitting us in the face," Levy said.
Moreover, the Health Ministry director said, "Anyone who thinks that 50,000-60,000 patients being treated, both in the community and in hospitals, isn't an economic blow, is mistaken. It's really easy to say 'the lockdown is political,' but we are in the midst of a difficult event. All countries are considering a lockdown."
As far as arguments by some medical experts that the restrictions that will take effect at 2 p.m. Friday are too severe, Levy responded, "Some of us were in favor of stricter [measures]; others wanted less strict limitation. It's clear to us that the model we had was faulty, but it's also clear that with these insane numbers, we need to do more than cut off chains of infection."
Levy also touched on the issue of exhaustion among medical staff working on COVID units.
"We could have given poorer care, but that's not what we wanted," he said.
When asked when and how the lockdown will be lifted, Levy said, "We're always discussing an exit strategy. The goals are to stop the spread of the virus, to reduce the number of positive test results. Today, we're at 15%, when you factor in retirement homes. That's a lot. There are 15 positives for every 100 people tested. We need to bring that down, as well as the attack rate [the number of people infected by a confirmed COVID carrier], which is at about 1.3.
"I don't think that within two to three weeks we'll see a drop in the numbers, because it takes time. In my opinion, this lockdown needs to be in effect for at least three weeks, and while it lasts, we'll see what we do next: either transition to an easier closure or adopt the traffic light system," Levy said.
On Thursday, national coronavirus coordinator Professor Ronni Gamzu acknowledged that the lockdown would come at a "tremendous" economic cost.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Gamzu reiterated his opposition to a full lockdown.
"I recommended that the Corona cabinet tighten the instructions and not shut down the country, but it decided otherwise and I respect that," Gamzu said.
Science and Technology Minister Izhar Shay slammed the government, saying he had voted against all the decisions proposed.
"It's important that the government ministers know – the decision on a full lockdown, worse than we experienced in March, was not made in the Coronavirus cabinet," Channel 12 News quoted him saying.
Meanwhile, as of 10 p.m. on Thursday, there were over 212,000 confirmed COVID cases in Israel. Of these, 1,356 were hospitalized, with 685 listed in serious condition and another 258 in moderate condition. A total of 172 hospitalized patients were on ventilators, an increase of eight over the course of the day.
An additional nine Israelis succumbed to COVID on Thursday, bringing the nation's death toll from the virus to 1,378 since the start of the epidemic in Israel.
Part of this article was first published by i24NEWS.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
