As much of Israel's population as possible must be tested for coronavirus, national coronavirus coordinator Professor Ronni Gamzu told the media – and the nation – in a televised press briefing on Tuesday night.
"The percentage of positive tests is 4-5% -- 3.5% of the general population, 5.5% in the Arab sector, and nearly 10% in the Haredi sector. They are all dropping in terms of the number of new confirmed positives and the percentage of positive tests. We are still monitoring the decline by the hour," Gamzu said.
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Gamzu announced that starting Saturday night, health officials noted a "significant drop" in the number of cases in Haredi cities and towns.
"We thought that the drop would make those same cities orange [under the Health Ministry's stoplight plan], but we maintained the lockdown there because we thought it was the safest option.
"We indeed saw an exit from lockdown in Rechasim, and then in Betar Illit and Modi'in Illit, and this morning [Tuesday] in Elad and Bnei Brak. That's great news for the residents of these citieis and the mayors, who have done excellent work," Gamzu continued.
The head of Israel's battle to stop the spread of the virus said he planned to "jump" on cities, neighborhoods, or regions seeing a spike in COVID numbers.
"Even if there are 15 or 20 cases, the number could grow and get out of control, so we make every effort in conjunction the local authority," he said.
Gamzu is determined to keep up testing.
"When I end the day with only 40,000 tests, we've wasted thousands of links of information, so it's important to test more. We made a decision to test the entire country, for free – without any need for a doctor's referral. The health care providers are prepared and will start testing in the next few days," he said.
Gamzu noted that in the second wave, the virus was being spread by and among youth and children, who are not always symptomatic. "It becomes more serious among adults. So diagnosis, knowledge, and information will stop the epidemic," he said.
As far as mandatory quarantine, Gamzu said that the current 14 days could be shortened.
"Have you been quarantined? Get tested on the third day to shorten the quarantine, and on Day 12 we'll let you out. The Health Ministry has put in a lot of work to shorten the time of quarantine," he said.
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