Dr. Meir Preis, director of the Institute of Hematology at Carmel Medical Center and husband of head of public health services Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, on Wednesday responded to a senior diplomatic official who claimed that "a great many of the people dying are dying with coronavirus, not of coronavirus."
In a tweet, Dr. Preis responded: "I unfortunately knew dozens of people who died of coronavirus, and none of them died with coronavirus. It's true that most of them were elderly, and some of them had cancer or other illnesses. Coronavirus shortened their lives and caused them enormous suffering."
According to Dr. Preis, the official's statements are "one more spin which shows how we have lost our path, shows failure, and shows running away from responsibility. It's very sad. We will continue to fight for each and every person. They are all our parents and siblings."
On Tuesday, a senior diplomatic official told a press briefing that "a great many of those who died, [died] with coronavirus and not of coronavirus." The official claimed that "the significant damage right now is in the Arab sector. My heart hurts for every person who dies. People die all the time, every day. We will need to count excess deaths and according to that, we will know. This has hit the entire world and there was no way to avoid it. We built a plan in which the world became ill first. We understood that this is less deadly."
"The question is whether there are excess deaths and where the limit of responsibility is. If we are doing everything and it does not harm those who are vaccinated, but only those who themselves did not take the vaccines - then that is an extraordinary success."