COVID-19 surveillance
COVID-19 surveillanceiStock

Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman MK Zvi Hauser sent a letter to the Attorney General calling on him to halt the government decision to approve GSS COVID-19 carrier surveillance for another three weeks, Kan News reported.

This, after the ministers were not presented with the economic consequences of the decision in its current format, with each traced contact meaning fourteen days in isolation.

In his letter, MK Hauser wrote that the period of isolation and the number of those in isolation have economic consequences: "Shortening the isolation days from 14 to 12 will save hundreds of thousands of working days for the economy, so when the ministers come to approve the pinpointing and the consequent isolation for 14 days, the ministers must be presented with the economic significance of the move."

The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee is now called upon to approve the surveillance and Hauser wonders: "If the Health Ministry thinks it should not shorten isolation by two days, it should explain why and present data. We don't intend to automatically approve the surveillance that put vast numbers of people in isolation."

Deputy Health Minister MK Yoav Kish replied to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman, saying the economic issue "was discussed" and was significant in the decision-making process. The ministers agreed that in view of the "high morbidity" and great effectiveness of the tool, "despite the economic cost, it's right to approve the continued use of the tool. Any other statement is unfounded in reality."