Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday evening convened the Corona Cabinet for a discussion on the effects of the lockdown up until now, enforcement, the professional recommendations for the future and dealing with populations at risk.
National Security Council (NSC) head Meir Ben-Shabbat, national coronavirus project manager Prof. Ronni Gamzu, professional elements and experts said that the situation regarding morbidity and the data would only become clearer next week and that, therefore, measures to either ease or intensify the lockdown should be avoided at this time.
Accordingly, the Corona Cabinet will discuss such measures next Monday when a comprehensive picture of the morbidity and movement data will be presented.
The Corona Cabinet agreed on the following:
1. According to NSC head Ben-Shabbat and the experts, it is difficult to draw conclusions based on the data up until now given the effects of Yom Kippur and Sukkot.
2. The Corona Cabinet will not make any decisions at this time on either an easing of restrictions or their intensification. The validity of existing regulations will be extended until 14 October 2020 according to the procedures required by law, including the regulations that restrict the activity of educational institutions.
3. Efforts will continue to be focused on blocking and lowering morbidity. This is the government's immediate goal.
4. A professional team from the Public Security Ministry, the Health Ministry and the Attorney General's office will evaluate the proposals raised at the meeting regarding more efficient and stringent enforcement and will submit its recommendations.
5. The Interministerial team that formulated the proposal on exit indicators will continue its work and will present a detailed plan for each stage. The Prime Minister will hold a discussion on this plan on Sunday ahead of its submission to the Corona Cabinet for discussion.
6. Pursuant to the staff work that was carried out by the Social Equality Minister, the Health Minister will formulate a plan that will enable visits to the elderly who are living on their own.
7. The ministerial team on the use of digital means will evaluate the possibility of encouraging the downloading of the 'Magen 2' app by creating a link between the app and the payments given to workers in quarantine and will also consider additional ideas. The team will present its recommendations to the Prime Minister.
8. Efforts regarding rapid testing kits and the procurement of a vaccine will continue pursuant to the Prime Minister's conclusions in the specific discussions held on these issues.
9. An additional meeting of the Corona Cabinet will be held next week.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said at the start of the meeting, "I very much hope that we are on a downward trend, but we can easily miss it and we can also strengthen it only if we act in an informed and responsible manner."
"I think we need to be very responsible in the way we are acting. And when I say 'responsible' it means being very much unaffected by pressures or demand from sectors and other things, and the more we stand together, the more we can do it."