Health officials warn: A closure is not a solution but a lockdown is considered

The warnings of the Corona Cabinet, the Ministry of Health and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett against a fourth closure, perhaps during the Tishrei holidays, lead to an attack by senior health officials who warn: A closure is not a solution. This move, they say, has failed in the past, and will fail this time as well. The Ministry of Health and its senior officials, they claim, do not take into account all the considerations, and manage the crisis through a particularly narrow prism. In the Corona Cabinet yesterday, the experts who attended the meeting said that in order to avoid reaching the insufficiency of the health system in light of the disease data, it is necessary to close in September. The experts' claim is that the economic cost of closing in September will be relatively low, given the small number of working days. They said a closure would affect the number of positives within 10 days, and a severe number of patients within two to three weeks.
Last night (Wednesday), the directors and senior officials of the hospitals met with the director general of the Ministry of Health, Prof. Nachman Ash, who said at the meeting that "a complex situation must be prepared for." He instructed hospitals to prepare for the opening of additional corona wards, including a reduction in elective activity, in addition to which Prof. Ash said the ministry would try to increase the number of home hospitalizations and prepare to recruit reservists for hospital operations, similar to previous waves.
The Ministry of Health is also considering returning the directive that travel abroad by medical staff will only be approved by the hospital director.
"Every step that is taken, whether in individual medicine and certainly in public health, the questions of benefit versus harm must be asked," said Prof. Amos Adler, director of the Ichilov Microbiological Laboratory. "In the case of closure, the answer is simple. Especially today, when already the majority of the high-risk population is vaccinated, we know from international comparisons and also from our experience, that beyond the huge damages it causes, it is simply ineffective."
"How can one think there is a benefit to this thing?" Adler wondered. "Quarantine is an ineffective means of causing immense damage in all areas of life. The advantage we still have today, even though we realize that the vaccine is not effective in preventing infection, is that it is very effective in preventing serious illness and this is also the experience now seen in the UK. We are still in a much better place than we used to be. "
Adler also came out against the predictions of 2,000 patients in critical condition, saying they were illogical. “How can it be that we are predicting a serious extent of morbidity from the third wave that was not then vaccinated at all?” He wondered. "I think there is a very narrow view of the health situation and also the general situation in terms of the state where everything is reflected through the corona glasses. I do not take lightly this but should understand that there are many other considerations as well. In the world. "
Dr. Mickey Halbertl, director of Rambam Hospital in Haifa, said the closure was effective only in the first wave - and defined the intention to impose a closure soon ridiculous. "We saw an intermediate effect in the second wave and a complete lack of effect in the third wave because people did not respond and there was 0 enforcement. We saw a completely normal movement, we did not see police and nothing was enforced. "No, so it's ridiculous."
According to Halbertl, "there is an increase in morbidity and they are trying to slow down. I understand the rationale, but it no longer works. In the third closure there was a 0 effect. "But with uncompromising enforcement. Closure is not the answer."
Prof. Dror Mevorach, director of the corona department at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, said that the third closure had not proven itself, and claimed that what stopped the infection was actually the vaccine. "People forget that the last closure did not stop the disease because it was not really a closure. People did not cooperate. The closure is not the ultimate solution. A closure can be announced tomorrow, but if they do not do it in full - it will not help. The only thing that will help is more "People will be vaccinated, and we will achieve this through vaccination or through disease."
Dr. Leon Falls, a member of the epidemic treatment team, joined the positions of the other experts. "At the current stage the closure has no chance of succeeding and there will be more harm than good," he said. Erosion. In addition, I am very skeptical about the capabilities and willingness of enforcement systems to enforce. "