MK Yifat Shasha Bitton threatened by Netanyahu asked the government to repeal the restrictions it imposed

In the shadow of threats from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's associates to oust MK Yifat Shasha Bitton from the post of chairman of the Corona Committee, the committee met on Sunday for about four hours to discuss the government's restriction order.
At the end of the discussion, the committee asked the government to repeal the restrictions it imposed on bathing on beaches and pools, and recommended changing the restrictions in restaurants so that it would be valid for 35% occupancy indoors, and sitting outside - according to the purple character restrictions. In gyms, the committee recommended limiting one trainee per 10 square meters, instead of the current 7 square meters.
Regarding attractions and tourism, the committee recommended leaving the riding safari route open and opening tourist attractions in Eilat - precisely to spread the population over a wide area, and prevent gatherings. The mayor of Eilat, Yitzhak Meir Halevi, called for the city to deviate from the guidelines - the main livelihood of its residents is tourism. Dr. Ophir Miller, chairman of the Association of Tourist Attractions, also lamented the uncertainty in closing sites, and called for such a closure to be budgeted in advance, as well as to differentiate between sites in closed and open spaces.
The question is not whether we open the economy, but how we open, "said Shasha Bitton at the beginning of the hearing." It is not certain that the restrictions are the right and complete solution at the time we are. " To the government's answers.
"We are in a plague, and we will fight it together," Shasha Bitton added. "Everyone has good intentions to fight the virus, we are all on the same side and we are allowed to argue about the ways to fight. The epidemic has many consequences: health, social and economic - and it is necessary to bring the delicate balance between everyone." Shasha Bitton pointed out in the discussion a contradiction in the data of the Ministry of Health - between those that appear in the Ministry's publications and those that are presented in the explanatory notes to the Restrictions Order.
The Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Health, Prof. Itamar Grotto, emphasized in the discussion that he opposes the opening of additional branches in the current situation of the increase in morbidity. We talked to the representatives of the restaurateurs, but the ability to open branches is a result of low morbidity. In rising morbidity - it is not possible to open. "
Grotto stressed that one person is enough to create a significant chain of contagion. "In Raanana, all those infected are from one graduation party; in Dimona - from one wedding. Since the opening of the educational institutions - there has been a jump in the number of young people infected, and the prevention of the crowd inhibits the spread of the disease." According to him, the gathering has the potential to be infected in closed places, or in places where the nature of the activity does not allow masking to be worn - such as restaurants and gyms.
"All over the world, restrictions have been placed on restaurant activity, and in all places where there has been an increase in morbidity, restaurants have closed," Grotto added. "The current level of morbidity also requires the closure of places that meet the purple mark. A closure on weekends is expected to lower the infection chain by about 20%." According to Lev Drucker, deputy chief economist at the Ministry of Finance, a closure on weekends will result in a loss of about 850 million to the economy - NIS 300 million on Saturday and NIS 550 million on Friday.
Deputy Health Minister MK Yoav Kish (Likud) added that the problem with the sea, pools and restaurants lies in the crowds that form in these places, even though they are open spaces. The patients do not know where they were infected, and expressed concern about the rising trend in morbidity. "We are in a mega-event, our feeling is that the tanks in the Golan Heights are rushing - and not letting us bring reinforcements. "In the first wave, there were patients in 78 localities, today there are already more than 200 localities with patients," he said.
Prof. Hagai Levin, chairman of the Association of Public Physicians, expressed concern about the closure. "Citizens' inactivity harms health no less than the virus."
Prof. Idit Matot, director of intensive care at Ichilov Hospital, recently noticed a slowdown in the rate of infection, and in the past week there has been stability in the number of patients and even a slight improvement in their condition. She called for speeding up the pace of testing results and for epidemiological investigations - which will amount to hours rather than days.