Those tasked with public health work 24/7 to protect the public, both during emergencies and when things are normal, but they are mostly transparent for the average Israeli.
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For example, we don't see the nurses in community clinics for newborns or in schools. It is thanks to them that our children have vaccines and we don't have outbreaks of measles and polio.
Because no one sees them, the easiest place to cut budgets is in health care.
Because they are invisible, we have had a lack of enough public health workers in this pandemic. Despite the fact that they are our first line of defense against a pandemic, their numbers have not increased. There are only 27 epidemiological nurses nationwide.
The minister of health and the ministry's director general have tried to finally bolster the staff at the district health offices tasked with the tracing of carriers. This is a welcome development, but that is not enough.
Epidemiological tracing is not just about the patient. It also means verifying their diagnosis is correct, guiding them on the way forward, finding anyone who might have been in contact with them, and coordinating the various measures that the economy must take to deal with it.
Pandemics are defeated through data. As epidemiologists says: "We believe only in God, and for everything else, bring us data."
A lot has been said this week about the rise in cases and deaths. But unfortunately, the government has refused to heed the request of epidemiologists who want to look at the raw data in order to understand the trends.
We keep getting reports from the government without a professional entity signing off on them. This means we do not get a clear picture of what is happening.
The rise in infections was expected because there is still no herd immunity and the virus is not being weakened by the summer heat. It is also clear that symptomatic patients are only the tip of the iceberg. That's why we can't just play whack-a-mole by finding the carriers. Rather, we have to find the clusters and take public health measures there based on epidemiological evidence.
This means we have to assume that everyone we meet is a potential carrier. This does not mean we have to be in a constant state of fear, but rather accommodate our behavior.
We have to limit our interaction with people and keep a safe distance, as well as wear masks. If we feel sick, or if we were in contact with a confirmed carrier, we have to go into self-isolation and consider testing for coronavirus. But at the same time, the government must encourage people to adopt such behavior, not just through fear but by explaining.
The coronavirus is here to stay for a long time, even though it clear that it is not an existential threat for Israel or humanity. It is a threat for public health, and this requires a proper and proportional response while planning for the long haul. The more we bolster our public health care apparatus, the better we are.
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