RSS Feed
November 10th, 2020 
Awake Goy 
Israel, the West Bank and Gaza are dealing with a renewed coronavirus outbreak, leading to proposals and measures intended to curb its spread and mitigate the economic ramifications of the crisis by both Israeli and Palestinian authorities.
Israel currently has 8,010 active cases; 2,678 people have died. In the West Bank, there are 4,565 active cases and 547 deaths, and in Gaza 2,992 active cases and 37 deaths.
Haaretz podcast: If Biden wins, Trump transition could prove very significant for Netanyahu
0:00
— : —
LIVE UPDATES
11:15 P.M. Two more deaths in last update of the day
At the end of the day on Monday, the total death toll from coronavirus stood at 2,678.
There are currently 8,010 active cases, 587 of them hospitalized, 333 in serious condition. Less than half of them, 143, are on ventilators. (Haaretz)
11:01 P.M. Travel: Denmark goes ‘red,’ China becomes ‘green’
The Health Ministry announced on Monday that Denmark had been removed from its list of “green” countries, where the rate of coronavirus infection is considered low enough to allow Israelis to travel without having to quarantine upon their return. Denmark is now considered a “red” country: Returning passengers will be required to self-isolate for 14 days.
As of Tuesday, China – where the pandemic began a year ago – will be added to the list of “green” countries. Israelis traveling there would not need to quarantine upon their return.
China joins Australia, Uruguay, the United Arab Emirates, Seychelles, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Fiji, Finland, Cuba, South Korea, Rwanda and Thailand. (The Marker)
>> Click here to read the full report
9:10 P.M. 543 new cases diagnosed, positive test rate stands at 1.9%
There have been 543 new confirmed coronavirus cases since Sunday, bringing the number of active cases to 7,945, according to Health Ministry figures released Monday. There are 586 people who are hospitalized, with 332 people in serious condition and 144 requiring ventilators. Two patients have died since Sunday, raising the overall death toll to 2,676. There have been 20,307 tests conducted since Sunday, and 1.9 percent were positive. (Haaretz)
8:30 P.M. Health minister halts vote for selective tourism reopening at last moment
Health Minister Yuli Edelstein withdrew legislation Monday night that would have declared Eilat and the Dead Sea area “green islands” whose tourism sector can reopen – at the very last moment, at the peak of its Knesset vote.
This came after Knesset members rejected proposed amendments that arose, which were intended to prevent other areas from being recognized as “islands.” Eilat and Dead Sea hotels will now remain closed, despite promises from the government of a reopening (Jonathan Lis)
7:09 P.M.Thousands break through police roadblocks to attend rabbis funeral in Jerusalem
Thousands attended the funeral in Jerusalem Monday of Rabbi David Feinstein, one of the most important Haredi rabbis in the United States, who died at age 91 on Friday.
Police set up roadblocks on the way to the Har Hamenuhot cemetery in an attempt to prevent a large gathering that would violate the coronavirus regulations, but the participants broke through the roadblocks.
A number of people accompanying the rabbi’s body on the way to the cemetery confronted police officers and caused damage to a police vehicle, and two of them were arrested, said police. (Aaron Rabinowitz)
5:30 P.M. Israel in talks with Pfizer on acquiring vaccine
Israel is in advanced stages of negotiations to secure the supply of a coronavirus vaccine with Pfizer Inc., who made the groundbreaking revelation on Monday that its experimental vaccine was more than 90 percent effective in preventing COVID-19, based on initial data.
Currently, Israel only has agreements with two drug companies developing coronavirus vaccines: Moderna, which is also in stage three testing, and Arcturus, which is still in the first stage.
The government has allocated a billion shekels ($297,604,000) towards acquiring vaccine doses, and already paid Moderna and Arcturus 405 million shekels. (Meirav Arlosoroff and Ronny Linder)
4:51 P.M. National Security Council warns of inadequate action against rising infections
The National Security Council warned the coronavirus cabinet on Monday that “the infection rate has returned and risen, and we are not responding to it at the speed that it demands.” In a document sent to the cabinet’s ministers, the council members recommended a number of steps that could help curb a renewed outbreak, such as a curfew, a weekend lockdown or localized lockdowns.
The council noted that more testing needs to be done, and that the Defense Ministry must quickly outline a policy for movement between Israel and the West Bank.
The council’s warning comes the day after Dr. Sharon Elrai Price, the head of public health services, said that Israel may be headed toward a third lockdown in a month’s time if the “unrestrained reopening of the economy” continues. In an interview with Kan Bet public radio, she warned that “If gatherings continue and if the cabinet continues to make decisions that go against the Health Ministry’s recommendations, it can definitely lead to a situation where the outbreak gets out of control.” (Noa Landau)
4:20 P.M. COVID-19 mink mutation unlikely to reach Israel, Health Ministry says
The coronavirus mutation discovered in mink in Denmark is unlikely to reach Israel, the Health Ministry said Monday.
“At the moment, the number of cases of new mutation in all of Denmark is very low, and those who have caught it are in isolation,” the ministry said.
The Health Ministry also said it has prepared a list of everybody who has arrived in Israel from Denmark and has contacted them to ensure they are tested for the new mutation. They have been ordered to isolate until the test results are confirmed.
Denmark was also added to the list of ‘red’ countries, meaning that that anybody returning from the country will need to go into isolation.
However, Dr. Adi Stern of Tel Aviv University told Haaretz that information published by Denmark on the mutation “does not make it possible to gauge whether the changes to the virus make a difference to the virus’ ability to infect humans, the degree of danger it poses, or whether it will withstand vaccines in development today.” (Ido Efrati, Jonathan Lis and Asaf Ronel)
2:20 P.M. PM says light at the end of the tunnel is at sight
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he is in talk with foreign leaders, including leaders of Arab states, to obtain millions of vaccines for distribution in Israel. “I can see the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Netanyahu during a Knesset meeting, “not in years but in months.” (Noa Landau)
9:30 A.M. Israel registers 292 new cases Monday morning
According to data published by the Health Ministry, there are currently 8,004 active coronavirus cases in Israel. There are 330 patients in hospitalized serious condition and an additional 143 patients on ventilators. Ten people died on Monday, raising the death toll to 2,674.
9:15 A.M. Israeli minister contracts COVID
Minister of Regional Cooperation Ofir Akunis said he tested positive for coronavirus on Monday. (Jonathan Lis)
SUNDAY
8:30 P.M. Health Ministry public health chief: Further reopening depends on lowering daily cases to 500
Sharon Elroi-Price, head of the Health Ministry’s public health services division, said Sunday that the prospect of reopening more parts of the economy depends on reducing the number of daily confirmed new cases from around 650 to 500. The country’s current R number – the average number of people each infected person will go on to infect – is close to one, up from about 0.6, which was expected but serves as a reminder that reopening should be done carefully, she said. (Ido Efrati)
4:55 P.M. Health Ministry deputy director-general resigns
Itamar Grotto, the deputy director-general of the Health Ministry, has submitted his resignation and asked his superiors to end his role at the end of the year, he said in a letter to staff on Sunday.
Within a matter of months, the top Health Ministry officials dealing with the coronavirus have been replaced. In May, Director-General Moshe Bar Siman Tov stepped down. In July, Siegal Sadetzki, the director of public health services at the Health Ministry, resigned, citing irreconcilable differences over policy in the handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Grotto and Sadetzki did not see eye to eye on some coronavirus-related issues, including the importance of the number of tests. Grotto took a more moderate view regarding the steps to be taken during the outbreak. There were more than a few claims that he was sidelined by decision makers for this reason. Grotto was dissatisfied both by his status in the crisis and by disregard for his professional professions. His role in allowing a billionaire to violate quarantine to attend an event took a heavy toll on Grotto and his public image.
Sources in the Health Ministry were not surprised by Grotto’s resignation or its timing, and could not point to any specific event that caused it.
“At the end of a difficult and especially demanding year in which I served at the forefront of the battle against the coronavirus and worked tirelessly for the public’s health, today I asked to end my role at the end of 2020 in order to rest a little and embark on a new path,” Grotto wrote in a letter to ministry staff, adding that he believed in the importance of “injecting new blood into the public system.
“We have known arguments and disagreements, but above all these was everyone’s shared, enormous desire to cope and to overcome all the difficulties along the way,” he further wrote. “In the last year, the complex dynamic of the coronavirus made it difficult for us on our path, but I believe and know that at every stage, the professionals did their best. The road is still long and not easy, but I am certain that together, we will find the answers and solutions and learn to overcome this virus, just as we overcame its predecessors.” (Ido Efrati)
12:29 P.M. Public health chief says ‘unrestrained’ reopening could lead to new lockdown in a month
Israel is under threat of a third lockdown as early as next month if the economy continues to open up, says Head of Public Health Services Dr. Sharon Elrai Price.
“If the coronavirus cabinet continues to make decisions that go against Health Ministry recommendations, the pandemic will get out of control,” she said in the interview with Kan Ben public radio, in which she criticized the opening of shops as “going against the Health Ministry’s exit strategy.”
Elrai Price said that the rate in which coronavirus carriers infect others “is rising at a very fast pace, and not just in one population or another, but across populations.” She noted that among the non-Arab and non-Haredi populations, each patient infects an average of one other person; the coronavirus cabinet last month had decided that the next phase of reopenings would not occur until that number reached below 0.8.
Street shops opened on Sunday morning for this first time in around two months, following a decision by the coronavirus cabinet to loosen restrictions amid a decline in infections. The number of customers in each shop will be limited to four, and shops in coronavirus hotspots will remain closed, as will shops in large malls. (Ido Efrati)
>> Click here to read the full report
1:15 A.M. Israel records 547 new cases on Saturday
According to data published by the Health Ministry, as of Saturday night, there are 8,812 active cases, reflecting a daily increase of 547 new cases and a continued decline in the number of active cases over the weekend. Some 576 coronavirus patients are currently hospitalized, with 325 of them in serious condition and 143 on life support.
Since the virus reached Israel earlier this year, 318,949 people have been confirmed infected and 2,664 people have died. (Haaretz)
SATURDAY
11:30 P.M. Street shops to open Sunday
Street shops will open Sunday morning, following a decision by the coronavirus cabinet to loosen restrictions amid a decline in infections. The number of customers in each shop will be limited to four, and shops in coronavirus hotspots designated “red” will remain closed, as will shops in large malls.
Regulations will also be relaxed for bed and breakfasts, which will now be allowed to operate up to six rooms or cabins housing no more than one household. (Ido Efrati)
FRIDAY
7:00 P.M. Israel to impose stricter COVID-19 restrictions on two towns
Tighter restrictions will be imposed on the Druze village of Buq’ata and the ultra-Orthodox town of Hatzor HaGlilit, the Prime Minister’s Office and Health Ministry announced on Friday.
In Buq’ata – the third Druze community to be declared as a restricted zone after Majdal Shams and Masadeh – the stricter restrictions will go into place on Saturday at 8:00 A.M. and will last until Thursday at the same time. In Hatzor HaGlilit, the restrictions will span from Sunday at 4 P.M. and continue until Friday at 4 P.M. (Noa Shpigel)
10:25 A.M. Active cases drop below 9,000
Israel has confirmed 584 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, bringing the total number since the outbreak began to 318,111. However, according to the Health Ministry, only 8,958 of them are considered active.
549 patients are currently hospitalized, with 327 of them in serious condition and 147 on life support.
2,639 COVID-19 patients have died so far. (Haaretz)
10:22 A.M. First- and second-grade classes to merge
The Health Ministry is withdrawing its demand that first and second grade classes be split into capsules in order to enable fifth and sixth graders to return to school, and says the change is contingent upon carefully maintaining the same class groupings in the afternoon programs. On Thursday the Finance Ministry and the Federation of Local Authorities in Israel announced they would fund the plan.
Canceling the division of first and second grade classes into smaller groups will free up classrooms for fifth and sixth graders. The change could go into effect in 10 days depending on the coronavirus infection rate and pending cabinet approval. The Health Ministry did not explain the health-related considerations behind the decision. (Noa Shpigel and Shira Kadari-Ovadia)
>> Click here to read the full report
5:31 A.M. Israel sees dramatic rise in suicide attempts during second lockdown
A few days before the second lockdown began being lifted in mid-October, a message appeared on the screen at Eran, Israel’s emotional first aid service.
“I attempted suicide a few minutes ago,” it said. The writer, a man in his 40s, continued sending messages. “I’ve despaired of life,” he wrote, noting that he felt like “such a big failure” that “I can’t even succeed in killing myself.”
The operator supported him for reaching out while alerting police and first aid services. They found the man before another suicide attempt and he is being treated by social services.
During both lockdowns, Eran volunteers received more than 70,000 calls, a total of 40,779 calls, more than 1,500 of them suicidal. (Lee Yaron)
>> Click here to read the full report
For previous updates click here
Related posts:
Views: 0
Posted in 
Tags: 
