Coronavirus ‘tsar’: Israel may need a night curfew at Easter

There is a chance that Israel needs to impose a night curfew at Easter, said coronavirus commissioner Prof. Nachman Ash on Sunday, when the third phase of the exit strategy for the blockade began and the country scored 800,000 cumulative cases of infected people. they are monitoring the consequences of the meetings that took place in Purim and the new round of openings, he told Army Radio. This year, Easter begins on March 27, just four days after the elections. “I believe that if we see this clearly the openings put us in danger, we may need to make a painful decision even before the election,” said Ash, adding that, if necessary, the scheme could be similar to the one implemented in Purim, which required Israelis to remain 1,000 meters from their homes between 8:30 pm and 5 am “My hope, however, is that we can celebrate Easter with our families.” Ash said he believes the requirement that people always wear a mask outdoors can be lifted, as activity is limited. However, as there are other situations where wearing a mask remains important, there will not be a change in regulation for the time being, he said. “The goal here is not to produce more confusion – where yes and where not – so the rule remains,” he added. “But the point is that the police do not apply this to these areas.” Hopefully, the 3.5 million Israelis who are already fully vaccinated will help protect others, and the reopening of commercial activities, schools and events will not lead to another outbreak, said Ash.

The OR, or reproduction rate, has increased in the past few days and stood at 1.02 on Sunday, reported the Coronavirus Knowledge and Information Center. This means that each person infected with COVID infects a little more on average than another person. The R rate has raised concerns among health officials, while others, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have emphasized that, thanks to the vaccination campaign, what matters at the moment The point is the number of people vaccinated and patients in a state serious. After several days of steady decline, the number of critically ill patients rose to 712 on Sunday. Last week, Israel marked the first time since December that the number dropped to 700. Also on Sunday, only 1,923 people tested positive in the past 24 hours. , reported the Ministry of Health. However, the number is only partly significant because a limited amount of testing is carried out during Shabbat. At the last count, 5,861 people died of coronavirus, including 30 over the weekend. With regard to vaccination, about 4.94 million Israelis received the first dose of the vaccine, or about 53% of the population, and 3.75 million received both doses. Hashmonaim, located just after the Green Line near Modi’in, has the highest rate of vaccinations. According to the Ministry of Health, 84% of residents eligible for the vaccine received the first dose and almost 70% the second dose. In Jerusalem, 38% received the first dose and 25% the two doses. Israel is vaccinating about 40,000 people with the first vaccine daily (except Friday and Saturday). On Sunday, Netanyahu, who is campaigning, said Israel had almost come out of the closure of COVID-19. Due to the high rate of vaccination, the government is gradually reopening companies, schools and Ben-Gurion Airport with maximum capacity. “Restaurants are coming back to life,” said Netanyahu after he and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion clinked mugs and ate sweets outside a park cafe. we still have to watch ourselves, ”he said. “We have to wear masks, maintain distances that people demand, social distances. But we are getting out of it and there is not much else. ”Some leisure venues have limited access to customers who can prove COVID immunity with the so-called“ Green Pass ”issued by the Ministry of Health, which expects the policy to win over Israelis who are still reluctant to get vaccinated. In an interview on Channel 12, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein urged the public to continue to be careful and abide by the rules to avoid the need to impose restrictions again, even during Easter.Reuters contributed to this report.