In a conference call Tuesday night with heads of Israel's security branches, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan instructed the police and the rest of the country's domestic security apparatus to make preparations to implement a full closure, which the minister thinks is a highly probable scenario in the next few days.
Erdan asked that he be presented with detailed plans to uphold a decision to put the entire country on lockdown. Under such conditions, only employees whose work is vital to the nation would be allowed out of their homes. Everyone else would be permitted to leave their homes for only two reasons – to purchase groceries and/or medicine, or to receive medical treatment.
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If a full closure is declared, the Israel Police would be responsible for enforcing it, while the Israel Defense Forces would supply staple goods to those in need who cannot provide for themselves.
"It would be very difficult to decide on a full closure, but given the unfolding situation, it's inevitable. It's best to employ harsh measures for a short time in order to defeat coronavirus as quickly as possible, and avoid deaths," Erdan said.
Meanwhile, head of public health services in the Health Ministry, Professor Siegal Sadetzki, admitted on Wednesday that there was a shortage of testing kits available in Israel.
"The kits are definitely a problem. We are working every angle to procure the kits. Since yesterday [Tuesday], I've been more optimistic that we'll be able to get the number of kits we need, but until I see them, I won't be able to relax," Sadetzki said.
Speaking at a Health Ministry briefing, Sadetzki announced that the number of new confirmed coronavirus cases had risen by 102 since Tuesday, compared to a jump of 65 from Monday to Tuesday. However, Sadetzki emphasized that the increase in positive cases was a result of expanded testing, not necessarily a spread of the virus.
"Two days ago, we were conducting 1,000 tests per day, and yesterday [Tuesday], we did 2,150," she explained.
Sadetzki noted that the number of testing labs in Israel had increased to 17 as of Tuesday, and on Wednesday, another three had been opened.
Sadetzki said that many of the Israeli corona cases have occurred in people who contracted the virus abroad and came back to Israel as carriers, with another sector comprising people who came into close contact with a confirmed coronavirus patient – "contact that, in most cases, we've managed to identify through epidemiological research," she noted.
