The first images of the special protective gear donned by the staff caring for COVID-19 patients at Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, as well as those of the Israeli passengers returning from the quarantined Japanese cruise ship, have been engraved on our collective memory in a particularly threatening fashion. It was as if Israel and the world at large were being visited by a horrifying plague, and there was a need to flee from anyone whom it struck down. The protective outfits worn by the staff as the "corona polling place" in the last election were seen as an indication that the disease comprised an unprecedented danger.
Clearly, reality demands containment and caution. It's also clear that the corona epidemic does indeed pose a threat. According to the worst scenarios from the Health Ministry, it could cause tens of thousands to sicken or die. There is no doubt that this is the worst health threat to humanity in the last 100 years, and we must prepare ourselves to the fullest extent, even if those preparations are hard for the public to take.
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However, the Health Ministry, hospitals, and healthcare groups have a moral responsibility that is no less important than battling the disease -- to try and reduce the severe social isolation corona patients suffer, as well as the extreme restrictions that keep relatives away from patients, especially the seriously and terminally ill. The patients' ties to their families are an important aspect of increasing their chances of recovery.
Last week, we heard repetitions of heartbreaking stories from families of corona victims who were not allowed to say goodbye to their loved ones in their final hours, as has always been an accepted part of these situations, when we aren't talking about corona patients. Because of the new restrictions, these families are also prohibited from holding funerals or even sitting shivah. Mourning notices announce their passing but warn readers that no one must attend the burials or pay shivah visits to the families. This inconceivable hardship is combined with social distancing and deterrence that some patients and families of the dead describe. People are afraid of the virus and afraid that the victims' families might also be carriers.
But despite this unthinkable reality, or perhaps because of it, the Health Ministry hasn't yet put out instructions for hospitals about ways in which patients, especially the most seriously ill, could be allowed to have contact with their families in what for some will be their final hours.
On Sunday, I discussed this with senior officials from the Health Ministry, Magen David Adom, and various hospitals. They all agreed it was a serious problem, and that there existed ways to protect family members while allowing them to visit loved ones, but that the Health Ministry hadn't considered the matter. The ministry said it would come to its senses and take action to ease the suffering of corona patients and their families and find ways to prevent the patients from feeling lonely, excluded, or like lepers and prevent families from feeling that they are being punished by being brutally kept away from their loved ones at the hardest hours of their lives.
