Moshe Bar Siman-Tov, who stepped down as Health Ministry director-general at the start of this week, said when the coronavirus pandemic hit that Israel – like the rest of the nations of the world – was fighting the virus "in a very thick fog of battle" and making its way through a "minefield," in which little was actually known.
But the gradual and ongoing lifting of the corona restrictions has also taken place in a heavy fog. It was clear that the exit had to be careful, slow, and considered, and that too hasty a return to "normalcy" could propel Israel to the death toll seen in Italy, Spain, New York, Britain, and Brazil.
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Now, more than three months after the initial outbreak of the virus, Israel and the rest of the world are still groping in the dark. This despite the fact that they have acquired more experience in containing the virus and treating patients, and more encouraging studies are being published everywhere that predict vaccines or new treatments that reduce the risks for corona patients in serious condition.
Still, there are other issues that are crystal clear and that should have been addressed, but which are being neglected or handled poorly: the operation and running of medical testing labs at HMOs and public hospitals, which should have been able to process corona tests quickly and efficiently; the urgent need to deal with the situation in retirement homes and assisted living, which have seen horrifying mortality numbers from corona; additional staff and equipment for intensive care units; accelerated acquisition of ventilators, and urgent improvements to emergency welfare services.
Professor Siegal Sadetzski, head of the Public Health Service in the Health Ministry, issued a warning at a meeting of the special Knesset committee appointed to handle the coronavirus crisis: "I am sorry to announce that the virus has returned, and we see a clear correlation between the release of the economy [opening businesses] and a rise in cases, and there is a significant rise in the number of cases nationwide, especially among children. There is a rise in cases in 57 communities, and that is a figure that cannot be ignored."
Sadetzski added that public health nurses who worked with vaccines and epidemiological research "were collapsing – they've been working three months straight. I need more people, and we also have a problem with staff in the labs. It's hard for us to recruit employees."
Sadetzki warned that it would be "very complicated" to prepare for another coronavirus outbreak.
The public and the cabinet ministers must not delude themselves that coronavirus is behind us and we can go back to our pre-virus routine. The new outbreak seen in recent days should cause the government to take urgent action to fund and address all the problems that came to light during the first wave.
The new outbreak should cause us, the public, to realize that we are facing difficult, daily tests that are very challenging, and that our behavior as a collective in this new reality is what will determine whether Israel will retain its good results in the battle against coronavirus, or slip down to the same situation in other places in which tens of thousands died.
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