Prof. Ash: “We are in a race between rising morbidity and vaccines”

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“Estimating that the closure will be more than two weeks, we demanded 25 days from the government”: Corona’s commissioner, Prof. Nachman Ash, held a press briefing today (Sunday) ahead of the closure, which will take effect today at 5:00 p.m. “Closure is neither an easy nor a simple step, but it saves lives,” he stressed.

“We may be able to begin to see the impact of quarantine within two weeks. We will look at population immunization and how it affects the number of critically ill patients – and accordingly consider what the recommendation for continued quarantine will be.

“Our original recommendation about two weeks ago was tight restraint,” Prof. Ash stressed. “As time went on and the morbidity increased, we decided on a more difficult and complex step – a complete closure. I call on the citizens at this point in time to adhere to the closure guidelines. If we do this together we can overcome the illness and get on the horizon better thanks to vaccines. I am committed to my recommendations for the professional side. All the measures are intended to lower the level of morbidity and deal with the corona in the best possible way. “

“The coefficient of infection in recent days is around 1.26-1.25, it has the meaning of doubling the number of verified people every two weeks. We need to keep this in mind when looking ahead. We are in a race between doubling morbidity and vaccines. The vaccination campaign is progressing exceptionally well. We reached close to 300,000 vaccinated. Better than we first expected. The vaccines are flowing to Israel according to the plan and we will receive them over the next few weeks. “

Asked what the morbidity and mortality situation would be in about two weeks, he replied: “Today we are starting a closure, the effect of which will be felt within ten days to two weeks. In the coming days the morbidity level is expected to rise and in about two weeks “To see the effect of the closure and the morbidity will go down. The intensity of the morbidity depends on the public’s adherence to the guidelines.”

The decision to hold schools in the fifth-tenth grades should also be made: “According to our recommendation, the education system should have been closed. The government’s decision was to allow the opening of kindergartens, grades 1-4 and 11-12. Any further opening of “Classrooms mean extending the duration of the closure and lowering its effectiveness. In my opinion, it is right to make the closure as short as possible, to limit activities and not to conduct studies during other age groups.”

Regarding the vaccination of teaching staff: “The prioritization of vaccines is done by a committee that has determined. The priority is population at risk and also people over the age of 60. As the operation progresses and as the vaccines progress we can expand the vaccinated populations. “It will be soon. The decision of the Knesset committee should not affect the priority of vaccines,” he noted. “Teachers will definitely be at the forefront and that will happen in the coming days.”

The Ministry of Health published this morning the latest corona morbidity data, which show that 63,658 new tests were performed yesterday, 2,636 of which were found to be positive. The rate of positive results stands at 4.1%.

The Ministry of Health also stated that there are 35,560 active patients in Israel. 604 of them are hospitalized in critical condition, of whom 172 are in critical condition. In addition, 145 patients were resuscitated and 208 patients were in moderate condition. To date, 3,222 people have died from the virus in Israel. The number of staff members in solitary confinement stands at 2,861, of whom 411 are physicians and 768 brothers and sisters.

Since midnight, 17,355 tests have been performed to detect the virus, 872 of which have turned out to be positive – so the rate of positive tests as of 09:04 stands at 5%.

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