By Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman June 16, 2020
According to Weizmann Institute of Science Prof. Eli
Waxman who headed the panel of experts advising the National Security Council
during the first wave of COVID-19. “There are no miracles here there is a
reasonable chance we’ll have to reinstate the closures because the Health
Ministry is not doing what it needs to do.”
Speaking with The Jerusalem Post on a day that 258
more people were infected with the novel coronavirus and the number of serious
patients increased by four, including four more who are intubated, he said the
public should take note that while the number of serious people in
intensive-care units is low, “it is the fraction we would expect. For every 400
new people, we expect two or three new ICU patients with a delay of about a
week, and this is what we see. The numbers are not surprising.”
On Tuesday, the Health Ministry reported that 14,371
people were screened for coronavirus, making the country’s infection rate for
the day around 1.8%. The rate on Monday was close to 2%. Health experts believe
that if the infection rate surpasses 1% for too long, there is a likelihood
that the health system could be overwhelmed.
“We see a direct correlation between the opening of
the economy and the rise in morbidity,” Prof. Sigal Sadetsky said Tuesday at
the Knesset. “There are significant increases in the number of cases found
throughout the country, with an emphasis on children.
The geographic spread of the virus in Israel is being
called a “second wave..
According to the Health Ministry, 690 medical staff
throughout Israel are in quarantine. Also, some 627 students and faculty are
infected, the Education Ministry said. Some 168 schools are closed, and there
are 21,807 students and staff in isolation.
Moreover, a report by the Health Ministry shows that
the virus is spreading throughout the country, including in Arab and haredi
(ultra-Orthodox) cities, which had among the highest per capita rates of
infection during the first coronavirus peak.
“Bnei Brak is
back on the map, there is mass infection [among] foreign immigrants [in
southern Tel Aviv], the virus is all over Israel; I am not sure what is scarier,”
Prof. Gabi Barbash, a former director-general of the Health Ministry said.
Waxman said the only way to stop the spread now is to
implement fast contact tracing to enable the Health Ministry to cut off the
infection chain, “but that is not operative.”
People are not aware of the danger, or maybe they are
fed up with all these rules and the fact that we were isolated and could not
celebrate Passover or Independence Day. But studies show that wearing masks can
reduce the rate of infection by as much as 85%, so the government should make
people do it, he said.
While one cannot predict the future, if only around 2%
of the population was thus far exposed to the virus – as preliminary antibody
testing results have shown – and if the hot weather has little impact on
transmission, there is little reason to believe that anything has changed.
“I don’t want to sound too dramatic, but we already
see a rise in critical patients,” he said.
The coronavirus cabinet is expected to meet Wednesday
evening to discuss the situation. Health Ministry officials are reportedly
planning to ask to put a halt to opening up any more of the country, while
politicians are likely going to push to allow cultural events and institutions
to resume operation.
Cabinet members have committed not to go backward and
to continue with the country’s policy of designating red zones. Currently there
are four: southern Tel Aviv, Rahat, Hura and Arara. At the meeting, the cabinet
is expected to decide on Ashdod, Baka al-Gharbiya, Bnei Brak, Elad and Netivot.
Hospital health professionals have said they could
handle about another 1,000 intubated coronavirus patients. After that, the
hospitals would need more ventilators, more doctors, more nurses and an
increased budget.
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