“In a week and a half we will see the results of the violations on Purim”: The director of the Galilee Medical Center, Prof. Masad Barhum, claims that violations of the guidelines on Purim could take a heavy toll soon.
“In ten days we will see the result of the riots and gatherings that took place on Purim. The coefficient of infection is rising, the British mutation is rampant, the vaccination project is not progressing and we are approaching a fourth closure.
According to Prof. Barhum, who is a member of the Advisory Committee to the Director General of the Ministry of Health, the exit from the last closure is very reminiscent of the exit from previous closures, which was not smart and responsible enough. “The economy actually opened almost completely, the education system opened as well. The payment voucher for Purim will arrive soon. When I talked about a two-week closure in the Yom Kippur format, people did not listen, and now you will see what we are going to have on Passover. “Ramadan and Pesach will come soon and then the wedding season will begin,” he says, adding: “I estimate that we need to reach 5.5 million vaccinated so that we have a kind of safety net and we are not close to that.”
“Who works in restaurants if not Palestinians”?
One of the things that worries Prof. Barhoum the most is the Palestinian population, most of whom have not been vaccinated: “Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian residents, some of whom come to us, are not vaccinated at all and this is a serious problem. The hospitals in Ramallah are bombed by Koruna patients. This is not a political or humanitarian issue. “The State of Israel. The restaurants will open soon, and who works there if not Palestinians? These people must be vaccinated. I am not talking about the process or who will carry it out, but only about the result.”
Prof. Barhum also explains why he decided from this week to allow vaccinated and recovering people to enter the medical center freely and without prior coordination: “People want to visit their loved ones, and as long as they have a green badge or vaccine card they display at the gate, I do not see barriers. “
In conclusion, Prof. Barhum wishes to emphasize: “This disease is terrible. We have young patients, some without background diseases, who have developed a very serious lung disease. The British mutation is rampant, especially in the north. Only yesterday a 51-year-old patient came to us without a human condition. “She died before she was hospitalized. Many people who contracted the disease struggle with long-term symptoms and long-term consequences even after their recovery. I see this and my heart is broken. Those who do not get vaccinated, including young people, should take into account that they may get it hard. Go get vaccinated!”