Interviewed this morning on Israeli media, Prof. Hezi Levy, director-general of the Health Ministry, said that if the number of people hospitalized for coronavirus rises significantly, and the number of serious cases rises to the 600-700 mark, the government will have to consider imposing far more wide-reaching restrictions in order to limit the spread of the epidemic.
Prof. Levy added that in his opinion, people planning to travel to Ukraine for Rosh Hashanah, for the traditional visit to the gravesite of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, should consider skipping this year's journey, as, he claimed, it is not clear how strictly the coronavirus regulations related to social distancing etc. will be enforced.
It should be noted that the Ukrainian authorities have already announced that they will be enforcing coronavirus restrictions extremely severely for Jewish visitors to Uman, and will also be cordoning off the entire area around the gravesite and nearby synagogues, in order to ensure that Jewish visitors do not come into contact with Ukrainian residents.