Israel is at war with COVID-19 and the next two weeks will be critical in terms of future policy and a potential lockdown, Coronavirus Commissioner Professor Salman Zarka said Wednesday during a Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee hearing on restrictions imposed on public life in an effort to quell the recent outbreak.
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Israel was able to bring morbidity to single-digit levels in the spring, lifting nearly all restrictions on public life. However, the arrival of the highly aggressive Delta variant caused morbidity to spike in recent weeks.
Israel has recorded 959,129 coronavirus cases since the onset of the global pandemic in March 2020, including 6,708 deaths. Over 120 people have succumbed to the disease in the past week – double the number of deaths for the whole month of July and over 15-times more than in June.
The Health Ministry said that 7,832 Israelis tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, representing a 5.6% positivity rate.
The ministry said 578 patients were in serious conditions, 100 of whom on ventilators.
"Morbidity is rising daily; I believe we are at war," Zarka said. "Looking at the data from this morning, we can't question the situation. This 'maybe' means Israeli lives."
Commenting on the possibility that lockdown – Israel's fourth – would be imposed during the High Holidays in September, the coronavirus chief said that the weeks until Rosh Hashanah "are a critical time. God forbid, the virus will get the better of us and we will have to impose a lockdown like in the first and second waves, including not being able to go more than 100-yard our homes," Zarka said.
He further noted that he believes the current restrictions are insufficient, saying he would rather limit gatherings to 50 indoors and 100 outdoors.
Starting from Wednesday, the so-called "Green Pass" directives were expanded to include all activities and venues except for malls and stores, for which the "Purple Pass: limiting the number of people allowed per square meter – one person per seven square meters – will apply.
Under the Green Pass system, only individuals who are vaccinated, have recovered or have undergone a rapid test in the previous 24 hours will be entitled to enter certain venues.
Once more age groups become eligible for a third COVID-19 jab, Health Ministry officials plan to make it mandatory for "Green Pass" eligibility.
The move has already sparked controversy among Israelis who claim the government cannot force people who have been vaccinated to receive a booster shot that will likely be ineffective against new coronavirus variants.
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