Head of the Institute for National Security Studies Amos Yadlin took to Twitter today to comment on the "traffic light" program developed by the government's coronavirus project manager, Prof. Ronni Gamzu.
"Prof. Gamzu is developing the right protocols, but the government doesn't seem capable of deciding on whether to implement them," he wrote. "The 'traffic light' program, along with a pinpoint plan for lockdowns, are essential. The education system is close to chaos," he noted, "and there's no effective way to break the chains of transmission when we're dealing with around 2,000 new cases [of coronavirus] every single day. We can only hope to break the chains of transmission when the number of new cases per day drops to several hundred."
Yadlin added that, "The reopening of schools, and large holiday gatherings during the upcoming holiday season can lead to a further increase in the number of infections. This failure of the government to deal with the situation demands a complete lockdown during the Tishrei festivals, as well as postponing the opening of the new school year. But even that won't help if we don't figure out a way to stagger the easing of the lockdown [depending on local conditions], and it is also essential to find a way to restore public confidence in the way the state is handling the crisis. This government is disconnected from reality - there is no sense of everyone being in this together. We're only going to start finding solutions when the coronavirus crisis is no longer politicized," he concluded.