Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned Sunday afternoon that the government may reverse its recent moves lifting coronavirus restrictions, reimposing emergency regulations.
Speaking at the weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday, Netanyahu said that while Israel’s coronavirus infection rate is currently relatively “good”, it could easily spiral out of control.
“I must tell you that our morbidity situation, relative to [other] OECD member states, countries that we are always compared to and which we compare ourselves to, is good.”
“We have 9,500 active cases, which is much less per capita than almost all of these countries. However, we must maintain this. I tell you plainly that we are in danger of not maintaining this if we do not act immediately because in recent days we have seen a clear increase in morbidity.”
“We are constantly evaluating the data and measures to ease restrictions that we have enacted. If necessary, we will halt the continued easing of restrictions and even tighten those we have already given. I ask citizens to continuing following the rules and adhering to the Health Ministry instructions.”
The prime minister compared Israel’s coronavirus-related fatalities, now totaling 2,854, to those of several European states, saying Israel must act to avoid a dramatic increase in the death toll.
"On the coronavirus situation, it must be understood that we are fighting a very difficult pandemic that has now claimed from us around 2,800 lives, every one of whom was a whole world, and we grieve for each and every one of them. We know the suffering of the families. We must do everything in order to prevent the situation from worsening, which could bring us to even harsher places, even harsher than we have known up until now.
I would like to give you data on five European countries that are our [population] size, among the most advanced countries in the world. They have paid much higher prices, even more than us. Belgium has 16,000 dead. The Czech Republic has 7,300. Switzerland has 4,500. The Netherlands has 9,200. Sweden has 6,000. We must do everything so that we do not add a tragic price to the price we have already paid during the pandemic.