Israel must impose a second nationwide lockdown, a senior Likud minister warned Sunday, or face a massive surge in coronavirus-related deaths.
Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz called for a new national lockdown to contain the pandemic, warning that the virus’ spread could spiral out of control if extreme measures are not taken.
“The calculation is simple,” said Steinitz. “We have 3,000 people diagnosed with the coronavirus per day. That’s a million patients per year, with at least four million people in isolation and about 10,000 deaths caused by the level of treatment declining due to the system being overwhelmed.”
“The country which becomes number one in the number of infections will also, within a matter of months, become one of the top countries in the number of patients in serious condition and even in the number of deaths.”
“Therefore, there is no alternative to a full lockdown, along with immediate, drastic measures which are the only way to seriously reduce the infection level.”