Health Ministry director-general Chezy Levy warned Saturday evening following the conclusion of the Sabbath and Simchat Torah that it is likely the national lockdown will continue for another week. The current lockdown is set to expire on October 14 (this Wednesday).
A final decision on the issue will be made at a meeting of the ministers in the Coronavirus Cabinet this Tuesday. “We know what the price of the lockdown is,” Levy told Israel’s Channel 12 News on Saturday night. “This isn’t a cure.” However, he added, “We brought down the morbidity in this lockdown.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is insisting that the lockdown remain in force until at least October 18, according to Channel 12.
The Health Ministry has created an eight-step plan for gradually lifting the lockdown, according to the report, which said the initial phase depends on a drop to a maximum of 2,000 new cases per day. The second phase depends on a drop to a maximum of 1,000 new cases per day. The third phase depends on a drop to a maximum of 500 new cases per day. The fourth phase will begin only if there is a drop to a maximum of 250 new cases per day, and so forth.
Over the 24 hour period of this Sabbath, 28 more Israelis lost their lives to the coronavirus, the Health Ministry reported. The national COVID-19 death toll rose to 1,914.
There were 1,941 new confirmed cases of the virus diagnosed over the Sabbath, bringing the number of current active cases to 62,165. Of those, there are 845 patients in critical condition, with 232 of those patients requiring respirators to survive and 290 more listed in moderate, or “fair” condition. At present, 1,544 Israelis are hospitalized with the coronavirus.
The total number of Israelis diagnosed with the virus since the start of the pandemic is 289,799.