All throughout Sunday, Israel’s Coronavirus cabinet met in an attempt to reach a final decision with regard to how best to combat the rising morbidity rate of the virus in Israel and whether or not to implement restrictions during Chanukah that begins this week. After a three-hour-meeting, the Cabinet adjourned and decided to continue the discussion on Monday.

PM Netanyahu spoke to the media about the reasoning behind the meeting. “We opened the economy and there was a wild increase in morbidity. This growth does not afford us a chance to wait. We will continue the discussion tomorrow at 7 p.m.”

Netanyahu warned the public to adhere to the regulations and make all attempts to keep the morbidity down. “I will not hesitate to reimpose some of the restrictions and the earlier we do so – the duration of the restrictions will be shorter. We need to work together, bring the vaccines, and impose the restrictions so that we lower morbidity, and we will come out of this.”

According to a report presented at the meeting by the Health Ministry, Israel could have more than 5,000 new cases per day in only two weeks’ time if the status quo does not change. The report stated that this number would jump to 7,000 cases just a week later and that the number of patients in serious condition would jump from approximately 300 where it is today to more than 1,200 patients in that span of time. The Health Ministry, therefore, requested that all commerce in Red and Orange cities cease immediately.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)