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Israel, the West Bank and Gaza are dealing with a renewed coronavirus outbreak, leading to proposals and measures intended to curb its spread and mitigate the economic ramifications of the crisis by both Israeli and Palestinian authorities.

Israel currently has 8,812 active cases; 2,664 people have died. In the West Bank, there are 4,565 active cases and 547 deaths, and in Gaza 2,992 active cases and 37 deaths.

LIVE UPDATES

4:55 P.M. Health Ministry deputy director-general resigns

Itamar Grotto, the deputy director-general of the Health Ministry, has submitted his resignation and asked his superiors to end his role at the end of the year, he said in a letter to staff on Sunday. The resignation came several months after the resignation in July of Siegal Sadetzki, the director of public health services at the Health Ministry,  citing irreconcilable differences over policy in the handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

“At the end of a difficult and especially demanding year in which I served at the forefront of the battle against the coronavirus and worked tirelessly for the public’s health, today I asked to end my role at the end of 2020 in order to rest a little and embark on a new path,” Grotto wrote in a letter to ministry staff, adding that he believed in the importance of “injecting new blood into the public system.

“We have known arguments and disagreements, but above all these was everyone’s shared, enormous desire to cope and to overcome all the difficulties along the way,” he further wrote. “In the last year, the complex dynamic of the coronavirus made it difficult for us on our path, but I believe and know that at every stage, the professionals did their best. The road is still long and not easy, but I am certain that together, we will find the answers and solutions and learn to overcome this virus, just as we overcame its predecessors.” (Ido Efrati)

12:29 P.M. Public health chief says ‘unrestrained’ reopening could lead to new lockdown in a month

Israel is under threat of a third lockdown as early as next month if the economy continues to open up, says Head of Public Health Services Dr. Sharon Elrai Price. 

“If the coronavirus cabinet continues to make decisions that go against Health Ministry recommendations, the pandemic will get out of control,” she said in the interview with Kan Ben public radio, in which she criticized the opening of shops as “going against the Health Ministry’s exit strategy.”

Elrai Price said that the rate in which coronavirus carriers infect others “is rising at a very fast pace, and not just in one population or another, but across populations.” She noted that among the non-Arab and non-Haredi populations, each patient infects an average of one other person; the coronavirus cabinet last month had decided that the next phase of reopenings would not occur until that number reached below 0.8.

Street shops opened on Sunday morning for this first time in around two months, following a decision by the coronavirus cabinet to loosen restrictions amid a decline in infections. The number of customers in each shop will be limited to four, and shops in coronavirus hotspots will remain closed, as will shops in large malls.  (Ido Efrati)

1:15 A.M. Israel records 547 new cases on Saturday

According to data published by the Health Ministry, as of Saturday night, there are 8,812 active cases, reflecting a daily increase of 547 new cases and a continued decline in the number of active cases over the weekend. Some 576 coronavirus patients are currently hospitalized, with 325 of them in serious condition and 143 on life support.

Since the virus reached Israel earlier this year, 318,949 people have been confirmed infected and 2,664 people have died. (Haaretz)

SATURDAY

11:30 P.M. Street shops to open Sunday

Street shops will open Sunday morning, following a decision by the coronavirus cabinet to loosen restrictions amid a decline in infections. The number of customers in each shop will be limited to four, and shops in coronavirus hotspots designated “red” will remain closed, as will shops in large malls.

Regulations will also be relaxed for bed and breakfasts, which will now be allowed to operate up to six rooms or cabins housing no more than one household. (Ido Efrati)

FRIDAY

7:00 P.M. Israel to impose stricter COVID-19 restrictions on two towns

Tighter restrictions will be imposed on the Druze village of Buq’ata and the ultra-Orthodox town of Hatzor HaGlilit, the Prime Minister’s Office and Health Ministry announced on Friday. 

In Buq’ata – the third Druze community to be declared as a restricted zone after Majdal Shams and Masadeh – the stricter restrictions will go into place on Saturday at 8:00 A.M. and will last until Thursday at the same time. In Hatzor HaGlilit, the restrictions will span from Sunday at 4 P.M. and continue until Friday at 4 P.M. (Noa Shpigel)

10:25 A.M. Active cases drop below 9,000

Israel has confirmed 584 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, bringing the total number since the outbreak began to 318,111. However, according to the Health Ministry, only 8,958 of them are considered active.

549 patients are currently hospitalized, with 327 of them in serious condition and 147 on life support. 

2,639 COVID-19 patients have died so far. (Haaretz)

10:22 A.M. First- and second-grade classes to merge

The Health Ministry is withdrawing its demand that first and second grade classes be split into capsules in order to enable fifth and sixth graders to return to school, and says the change is contingent upon carefully maintaining the same class groupings in the afternoon programs. On Thursday the Finance Ministry and the Federation of Local Authorities in Israel announced they would fund the plan.

Canceling the division of first and second grade classes into smaller groups will free up classrooms for fifth and sixth graders. The change could go into effect in 10 days depending on the coronavirus infection rate and pending cabinet approval. The Health Ministry did not explain the health-related considerations behind the decision. (Noa Shpigel and Shira Kadari-Ovadia)

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5:31 A.M. Israel sees dramatic rise in suicide attempts during second lockdown

A few days before the second lockdown began being lifted in mid-October, a message appeared on the screen at Eran, Israel’s emotional first aid service.

“I attempted suicide a few minutes ago,” it said. The writer, a man in his 40s, continued sending messages. “I’ve despaired of life,” he wrote, noting that he felt like “such a big failure” that “I can’t even succeed in killing myself.”

The operator supported him for reaching out while alerting police and first aid services. They found the man before another suicide attempt and he is being treated by social services.

During both lockdowns, Eran volunteers received more than 70,000 calls, a total of 40,779 calls, more than 1,500 of them suicidal. (Lee Yaron)

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