The coordinator of the government's battle against coronavirus, Professor Ronni Gamzu, presented the Corona cabinet on Thursday with figures showing that currently, the country is seeing an average of 1,500 new cases per day, which translates to approximately 40 additional serious cases per day and 400 deaths per month from the virus.
At the end of the meeting, Gamzu said, "The cabinet minister expressed complete support for the framework I presented them with, and for avoiding a shutdown."
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The first working option Gamzu presented to the ministers included work to expand the infrastructure available to combat the spread of the virus in Israel. As part of that option, the IDF would perform contact tracing; the Homefront Command would enter dozens of localities; and the "traffic light" system of coding local authorities based on their coronavirus numbers would be implemented fully, which would mean different enforcement measure based on each community's designation.
Under that framework, most schools would open as scheduled on Sept. 1, based on the arrangements made thus far, which entail capsules and distance learning for older students. The main goal of this approach is to get the economy back on its feet. However, schools in cities, towns, and locales designated "red" would not open.
As far as the High Holidays, which begin at the end of September, Gamzu and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed that decisions would be made by Sept. 10. Decisions will be based on public health considerations and the capacity of the country's hospitals to treat the number of coronavirus cases that arrive.
The second possible framework Gamzu presented would be relevant if the virus continues to spread and the health care system is unable to handle the number of cases. That framework would be much more severe and would include a shutdown in "red" cities. Under the terms of those shutdowns, residents would be forbidden to be more than 500 meters [1,600 feet] from their homes; and businesses, restaurants, shopping malls, and other leisure venues would close. Public services would be open on an emergency basis, and private businesses would operate with 30% of employees on the premises.
Some ministers voiced criticism of Gamzu's proposals. Housing and Construction Minister Yakov Litzman demanded fewer restrictions on synagogue activity.
"Why can 500 people attend cultural events, but only 20 can be in a synagogue?" Litzman asked Gamzu.
Testing in the 24-hour period from midnight Wednesday to midnight Thursday resulted in 1,479 new confirmed cases, the National Coronavirus Knowledge and Information Center reported Friday.
As of Friday morning, there were 396 coronavirus patients listed in serious condition, up from 374 a week ago. The number of active or symptomatic carriers stood at 22,442, compared to 21,840 a week ago.
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The death toll stood at 795 on Friday, after an additional 11 patients succumbed to the virus in the same 24-hour period.
The cities and towns listed "red" in which the number of coronavirus cases among their residents is 50 or more include Jerusalem, Bnei Brak, and Modi'in Illit, as well as Kafr Bara, Ilut, Jedeidi-Makr, Beit Jann, Kafr Qasim, Harish, Rahat, and Tira.
"Red" cities, towns, and communities with fewer than 50 cases include Tifrach, Uzeir, Givat Brenner, Kfar Tavor, Daliyat al-Carmel, Ussifiya, Lapid, Emmanuel, Rababa, Yanuh-Jat, and Kfar Chabad.
This weekend, the number of confirmed cases in Israel since the beginning of the epidemic here some six months ago is expected to top 100,000.
However, Professor Hagai Levin – an epidemiologist at the Braun School of Public Health at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem – said the true number of cases in Israel was already over 100,000 and "could exceed half a million."
Levin based his assessment on a serological study conducted in Israel, which detected the presence of antibodies, meaning that a person had been exposed to coronavirus and his or her body had produced a reaction.
"It's time to expose the results [of the study]," Levin said.
