Professor Gili Regev, director of the Infectious Disease Research Unit at Sheba Hospital, stated today that in her estimation, the country needs several more weeks in lockdown before easing the current regulations.
“It will take another few weeks to emerge from lockdown, and that’s an optimistic scenario that I’m hoping for,” she told Reshet Kan Bet. “However, even after the lockdown is lifted, we’re going to have to learn to live with the disease.”
Professor Regev added that, “The current lockdown is far less hermetic than the previous one – and I certainly didn’t hope to see another lockdown like the last one, which was far too extreme, and actually damaged public health, in my opinion. There’s no problem with people going out of their homes, and I also think that the whole issue of demonstrations has been overblown. The issue I have with demonstrations is when the police move in and crowd the protesters into a small space.”
Asked to comment on recent disclosures that prominent figures violated the government’s lockdown regulations, Prof. Regev said that, “This makes a very bad impression. There’s no doubt that Environment Protection Minister Gila Gamliel should resign. On the other hand, the media really don’t need to scramble after such stories which only have a polarizing effect.”
In addition to the news that Minister Gamliel violated lockdown rules by traveling to Tiberias from her Tel Aviv home on Yom Kippur, it emerged yesterday that the head of the ISA (Shabak), Nadav Argaman, invited several relatives to his home on the first day of the Sukkot festival last Shabbat, when it was forbidden to host anyone beyond members of one’s nuclear family living in the same domicile. Argaman’s daughter was among his guests as were others who do not live in the same home as him. The government has imposed a NIS 500 fine on anyone found in a sukkah or home that is not his own in order to deter such behavior. In addition, all Israeli citizens are restricted to a radius of 1,000 meters from their homes, other than for the purposes of procuring food or other essentials – violation of this rule also carries a NIS 500 fine.