Ultra-Orthodox have noticed a disproportionate number of virus cases. In early October, officials said that 40% of all new coronavirus infections came from ultra-Orthodox, representing only about 12% of the population.
Coronavirus tsar Ronni Gamzu removed Beit Shemesh and Kiryat Malachi from the list of “red” spaces after infection rates progressed there, reportedly. Its soft traffic classification formula calculates local infection rates based on the number of actual cases, the rate in which instances are duplicated, and the percentage of tests that test positive week by week.
“What has happened in the last two weeks is a real revolution in reducing virus rates despite considerations and challenges,” Gamzu told the Ynet news site on Friday.
The immediate rate of decline in cases “surprised us too,” he continued. “The decrease is genuine and is due to the reluctance to be tested. We are seeing a decrease in the number of positive cases, adding up in Jerusalem. “
It is a reference to the hypothesis that some ultra-Orthodox communities can simply avoid testing to download so-called “collective immunity”.
Gamzu reports that the blockade in the red zones will remain in effect until Wednesday night.
Gamzu criticized earlier Friday for his stance through ultra-Orthodox lawmakers and a complacent minister who warned that a hasty exit from lockdown would lead to higher infection rates.
“Ronni Gamzu makes no decisions based on the number of patients, but only if they are Haredi,” said Moshe Gafni, deputy of unified TorHe Judaism, accusing the coronavirus tsar of “doing calculations on his head in the night’s death on how to block the Haredim.
“I urge the prime minister to avoid this man’s activities,” Gafni added.
The ultra-Orthodox parties are allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and dominate the government.
Social Welfare Minister Itzhik Shmuli suggested that the government keep highly swollen spaces under lockdown, warning: “The only way to administer the coronavirus regimen without the third blockade is to make decisions about epidemiological rates in the exit stages, explained by experts. “
He said the government deserves not to look for shortcuts or have a “double standard” and regulations on hotspots too quickly.
Health Minister Yuli Edelstein subsidized Gamzu on Friday, and a member of his workplace said he supported his expert opinion.
The decision to lift some restrictions comes a week after the Sucot and Simhat Torá festivities, raising considerations about an epidemic in ultra-Orthodox areas, where meetings were not unusual and many violations are recorded, possibly not yet reflected in official data.
According to the Department of Health, 1,608 new cases were diagnosed thursday, while the percentage of tests that tested positive fell to 4. 5%, the lowest rate since mid-July. He said 37,487 tests had been conducted by Thursday.
More than 300,000 cases of the virus have been diagnosed since the start of the pandemic, of which 38,355 are active; according to the ministry, 714 more people are in serious condition, adding 244 under ventilators; another 219 are in moderate condition, the rest. with mild or no symptoms. A total of 1,227 are hospitalized for the disease.
The death toll rose to 2141 on Friday night, with seven more deaths recorded since Thursday.
The most recent figures were in line with the government’s target of fewer than 2,000 instances to ease some of Sunday’s closing restrictions.
Ministers agreed Thursday to lift the restriction imposed on Israelis traveling more than a kilometre from home, for express legal purposes; allow them to scale in other people’s homes as long as the ceilings of the meetings are respectable (10 inside, 20 outside); Reopening of kindergartens and day care centers; Allow restaurants to serve takeaways. Allow companies that don’t get consumers to open their doors. Allow Israelis to stop at beaches and national parks; and reopen the Western Wall Square and the Temple Mount compound for worship under certain restrictions.
According to several media reports, the government also agreed on a plan to reopen ultra-Orthodox yeshivas next week, according to the “capsule” program implemented in the past.
Former Ministry of Health Director-General Gabi Barabash, a common media commentator on the pandemic, criticized Friday’s resolution to start coming out of lockdown next week.
“They haven’t set the threshold to exit lockdown at 2,000 instances a day. They’ve reduced it a lot by tens or between a hundred and two hundred because it’s much less difficult to control,” Barabash told 103FM Radio.
He said the reopening of the school formula under existing situations is “very dangerous. “It would have been bigger to “wait another week” before starting to reopen, Barabash said.
A member of the Prime Minister’s Office said the plan to lift some regulations on Sunday will not be implemented if the authorities exceed 2000 according to the day or if the number of key reproductions (which measure disease transmission) is greater than 0. 8%.
Before the reopening of educational facilities for children under the age of six, the government suggested on Friday that preschool and kindergarten teachers be tested for the virus, “to ensure that youth and staff return [to the school]”.
State-subsidized day care centers said Thursday they would not be in a position to reopen Sunday.
Israel has been under national blockade over the past month to involve a momentary wave of angry pandemics, which at one point reached about 9,000 instances. In recent days, the number of instances and the percentage of positive evidence have decreased amid the drastic restrictions imposed on Israel. The death toll, however, increased to 2,000 dead on Sunday, just five weeks after 1,000