Government ministers: there was no point in imposing more restrictions on the public

The discussion that Prime Minister Naftali Bennett convened on Sunday evening with senior Ministry of Health officials and some ministers ended without decisions. Ministers present at the hearing said there was no point in imposing restrictions on the current state of the epidemic, and especially not on gathering restrictions - which the ministers said would "put the economy in a spin". The Prime Minister's Office said that further consultations will be held later today in order to formulate the continuation of the action plan for the treatment of Omicron, which will be submitted for approval to the Corona Cabinet.
It was also reported that in yesterday's discussion "various options for tightening the restrictions were discussed as part of the continued spread of the strain, including restricting gatherings, expanding the green label and also applying it to the trade industries, stopping funding for antigen testing for children, and more."
The service was attended by Ayelet Shaked, Orna Barbibai and Tamar Zandberg and Ministers Hili Trooper and Nitzan Horowitz. Ministry of Health officials came up with a list of not entirely formulated recommendations, including a proposal to limit the gathering of the unvaccinated and vaccinated. Under the proposal, up to 20 unvaccinated people will be able to congregate indoors, while 50 will be able to congregate in an open space. For the vaccinated, the Ministry of Health has recommended limiting gatherings to 300 people indoors and 1,000 outdoors, assuming it is a tidy place with seating. At parties or places where there is no regulated seating, the Ministry of Health proposed limiting it to 100 people indoors.
Ministers who attended the debate said the proposal was ineffective and would put the economy in a spin. Minister Horowitz also said he is not in favor of imposing restrictions as long as there is no compensation. Senior Health Ministry officials acknowledged that such restrictions would not prevent an outbreak and might delay it, and suggested waiting to see if the current wave would cause a serious illness and take advantage of the time to encourage immunization.
Ministers estimated that the restriction of the gathering to be discussed in the cabinet would not be approved - and noted that a focus is expected on the application of the green label outline, possibly on the entire trade. Sources present at the hearing said that even senior officials of the Ministry of Health did not express confidence in the restrictions on the gathering, noting that Minister Horowitz's position was not firm. "The number of meetings in cultural and sports halls is less than the number of meetings at work, public transport, the supermarket and the HMO, so there is no point in imposing restrictions on performances and sports," said sources present at the hearing. The study presented a study that shows that the number of meetings at cultural and sports events is lower than the number of other meetings, so the ministers claimed that it was a "drop in the ocean." They further explained that if the cinemas were closed in light of the congestion restrictions, such a decision would also harm the restaurants around them.
Although Minister Horowitz conditioned any restriction on the economy on compensation, Yoav Gordos, the budget director at the Ministry of Finance, explained that the issue of compensation is not a simple thing. "It is impossible to press a button and pay tomorrow. There is no answer from Chalat. It is very complicated and requires legislation, "he said.
Of the approximately 64,000 tests deciphered since midnight yesterday, 1.47% were positive. This is a significantly higher number than the data in recent weeks, which stood at about 0.6%. From midnight to midnight last night, 939 positives were diagnosed for Corona. In addition, the infection coefficient is 1.22 - indicating the spread of the plague.
The number of serious patients, which has been relatively stable so far, has risen from 81 to 83. Data from the Ministry of Health show that about 75% of critically ill patients are not vaccinated at all. Among severe patients, who have not yet turned 60, the rate of unvaccinated is higher and stands at 84.4%.
Despite Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's repeated calls for Israelis to get vaccinated - immunization rates, especially among children, are very low. The data show that only 8% of 5-year-olds and 13% of 6- to 11-year-olds were vaccinated with the first vaccine dose. The weighting of the data shows that only about 12.5% ​​of ages 5 to 11 - that is, one in eight children of these ages - were vaccinated.
Since the outbreak of the plague, 8,232 corona patients have died in Israel, the last two on Friday. However, the Ministry of Health usually updates on late deaths, so it is possible that the number is higher and patients have also died since Saturday. The data also show that 30 corona patients have died in the country since the beginning of the month.