Israeli Coronavirus Commissioner Warns that the Next Two Weeks are Critical

The coronavirus commissioner in the State of Israel, Prof. Salman Zarka, has stated that the country is currently fighting a war with the pandemic. He further warned that the upcoming two weeks are critical in its fight against the deadly disease as the number of people in serious conditions has hit 578. As of now, no less than 100 patients have been put on ventilators. 

Zarka revealed that the morbidity in the Jewish State is readily rising while giving a speech in front of the Knesset Law and Constitution Committee. It had convened to talk about the new policies that came into effect earlier in the day. 

In the last week alone, more than 120 people have lost their lives to the novel coronavirus. This figure is over double than what had been recorded in the entire month of July. It is also 15 times more than the figure registered in June. 

An update from the Health Ministry on Wednesday revealed that there had been 7,832 new cases of the disease on Tuesday. 5.6% of the total number of people screened turned out to have contracted the virus. These figures were a decrease as compared to the day before when Israel had recorded 8,734 cases and a positivity rate of 6.2%, which marked the highest figure ever since the month of February. 

Meanwhile, the government is continuing with its efforts to administer booster shots to individuals aged 50 and above. Zarka informed that after monitoring the data, it was discovered that no person vaccinated with the third dose was later in critical condition. 

Up until now, more than 1.1 million Israelis have been given the booster shot. The Director-General of the Health Ministry, Prof. Nachman Ash, recently also gave his approval for a policy to vaccinate children during school hours. 

However, the issue has raised several arguments between the Education and Health Ministries. The former has publicly shown that it does not approve of this idea. 

Currently, the authorities are more focused on vaccinating the one million eligible citizens in the country, who have not yet even received their first jab. They have deemed the inoculation of these people to be their number one priority at the moment, in order to avoid any further restrictions. 

Zarka added that up until the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, the country will be on high alert. According to him, this time is especially critical because if the numbers rise, the country may have to impose a lockdown and shut down temporarily. He said that the current regulations and restrictions are not enough to curb the rise in infections. 

The coronavirus commissioner went on to remark that outdoor gatherings will be limited to 100 people, whereas indoor gatherings will only permit 50 people to attend now. From Wednesday onwards, the Green Pass system was also expanded to include all venues and activities, except for stores and malls. For these specific locations, the Purple Ribbon outline was reinstated.