[ad_1]
Confirming the split in the government, the resignation presented in the morning by the Minister of Construction Yakov litzman, a member of one of the influential religious parties that make up the ruling coalition. Litzman, minister of health for several years, including the first phase of the pandemic, had already resigned from his post at the end of April, to obtain the construction department with the oath of the new Netanyahu government in May.
Litzman is against the blockade because it would avoid prayers at the time of the most solemn holidays on the Jewish calendar. Rosh Hashana (the new year), the fast of Kippur me Sukkot (Feast of the Capanne), a period of about three weeks from Friday, September 18. The general confinement arrives precisely in coincidence with that period, characterized by large gatherings during traditional meals and religious services, but also in places of entertainment, since it is a vacation period. Litzman had called for the lockdown to be applied in August, when the trend of increasing infections was already visible, to avoid the shutdown during the holidays.
The Ministry of Finance, which together with those of Science, Tourism, Economy and Welfare leads the internal fringe, estimates that a new confinement implies losses of 1,200 million euros per week and would leave another 300,000 workers at home.
During the heated debate between the ministers – in which, in addition, all the directors of the Ministry of Health intervened by videoconference because in preventive isolation, like some 90,000 Israelis at this time – the only significant exception that was made is that commercial establishments in the private sector will be able to continue working on the current formula, but without receiving the public.
The proposal had already been approved (6 against 4) on Thursday by the cabinet restricted by the coronavirus and today it reached the plenary session of the government that decided measures similar to those of last April: for three weeks there will be a ban on moving more than 500 meters from the ” At home, if not for a proven reason, limited meetings to 10 people in closed spaces, closed businesses except for vital exercises, remote work, closure of the school system that had resumed on September 1 after the summer holidays, only home delivery for restaurants.
Subsequently, a second phase would be entered with less strict limitations until returning, after a month and depending on the results obtained from the previous measures, to the “Traffic Light Plan”, the Commissioner’s program for the Covid emergency, Ronni Gamzu, which establishes restrictions based on the contagion rate in the area of residence (green – orange – red).
But not only is politics divided. There are conflicting opinions in the medical community on the effectiveness of the new blanket blockade. In the panel of experts supporting Gamzu’s work, many voices pressed for more relaxed measures. Experts argue that the economic and psychological price of a new blockade must be taken into account. In addition, there are those, in the first place among restaurateurs and managers of gyms and swimming pools – which according to the data so far have not been contagion epicenters – threaten not to comply with the measures.
The decision to apply a new lock comes after last week’s infections topped 4,000 a day. Israel is currently the first country in the world for the number of new infections per million inhabitants, but also the third for swabs performed (more than 30,000 per day in a country of 9 million inhabitants). Furthermore, with 1,108 deaths since the start of the pandemic, it is at the bottom of the mortality ranking. Some hospital directors argue that if it doesn’t close now, intensive care will be saturated within a month. On the other hand, several doctors argue that the figures, and especially the non-exponential growth of intubated patients (to date 139, at the beginning of August there were 95), do not justify a measure as drastic as a new total closure.
The great confusion in the handling of the crisis and the citizens’ belief that decisions are motivated by political considerations so as not to alter the balance of government, have brought the population’s confidence in the work of the executive to 45% according to surveys , practically halving the April consensus that had also reached peaks of 85%. The Likud, on the other hand, the party of Prime Minister Netanyahu, is always the first party (31 seats) with more than 10 points behind the rest of the rivals.
