The Coronavirus Cabinet, which will convene on Wednesday, is expected to impose a lockdown on "red cities" with high rates of infection, but it is unclear what additional restrictions will be imposed on the public.
Kan 11 News reported on Tuesday that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and National Security Council head Meir Ben-Shabbat support a significant lockdown, in the form of either a nighttime lockdown or even a full lockdown, in order to reduce the rate of infection.
On the other hand, Coronavirus Project Manager Prof. Ronni Gamzu and other cabinet ministers prefer much more proportionate measures that will be adjusted to the rate of infection.
The chairman of the Israel Medical Association, Prof. Zion Hagay, on Tuesday called for a full, short and immediate lockdown on the entire country. A short and immediate lockdown, he said, will reduce the rate of infection immediately and dramatically and will allow the school year to open as scheduled on September 1.
In a conversation with Kan 11 News, Prof. Hagay said that many doctors are afraid to suggest such a move because it is unpopular.
Prof. Hagay added that a lockdown has for centuries been one of the most effective weapons for dealing with pandemics. "We are witnessing that a number of countries in the world have activated a lockdown in the second wave, such as in Australia and Spain, when the number of cases rose to a few hundred," he said.