Israel is now in the midst of coping with the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said on Sunday, adding that the rise in infections nationwide would necessitate further restrictive measures on the public.
The country has seen a steady rise in the number of new cases over the last few weeks.
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Edelstein said that during a heated government meeting earlier in the day he recommended increased restrictions on public and religious ceremonies, though other ministers voted down the proposed measures.
"Some have accused me of stoking panic. It's easy to produce this type of populist discourse, intended to score cheap points. Easy, but dangerous," the health minister said.
At the weekly cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed ministers to shorten to 48 hours the time required to trace and quarantine those who have been in contact with known carriers, and to reduce the time taken from the time a COVID-19 test is requested until the results are delivered to 12 hours, according to a statement by the Prime Minister's Office.
At the meeting, ministers also discussed the possibility of 30% of public-sector work being shifted to employees' homes. The discussion on increasing restrictions on the public gatherings was set to continue on Monday, according to the statement.
As of Sunday morning, the country's COVID-19 death toll stood at 318, according to the Health Ministry, while more than 17,000 have recovered out of a total of 23,421 cases since the beginning of the pandemic. There are 212 coronavirus patients hospitalized across the country, with 45 in serious condition.
On Saturday, a 19-year-old girl suffering from several serious pre-existing medical conditions died of COVID-19, becoming the country's youngest victim of the pandemic, Jerusalem's Hadassah Medical Center reported.
At the start of Sunday's meeting, Netanyahu said Israel was not the only country having to consider re-imposing restrictions due to a resurgence of the disease.
"The pandemic is raising its head around the world. We have passed the threshold of 10 million infected people and 500,000 dead," worldwide, said Netanyahu.
"I do not know if this is the second wave; I do know that this is a rising wave. Many countries that lifted the restrictions, upon a lessening of the disease, are now being compelled to re-impose the restrictions in order to block the spread. We have seen in other places that this is not a health or economic issue because a severe blow to health is also a very severe blow to the economy," he continued.
When Israel first began to reopen its economy, said the prime minister, he spoke of an "accordion policy."
"You open [the economy] and if you see the disease returning and spreading – you tighten it. This is not a zigzag; it is the policy of any sane country and it is also how we will act," he said.
The prime minister reiterated that the health and economic aspects of the pandemic were linked.
"If we succeed with health, we will succeed with the economy. It is my intention that we succeed with both. This requires determined action, which is not always simple, but is required at this time. We will take action regarding health and the economy, and with God's help we will be victorious."
Some of the new restrictions being considered include a limit of up to 150 people at events, as well as compartmentalized camp groups.
Jerusalem's Municipality said its inspectors would enforce the mandatory wearing of face masks, social distancing and the ban on gatherings of more than 20 people.
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