MESSAGE
| DATE | 2020-03-09 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] The world has turned absolutely crazy --
|
All people entering Israel must be quarantined
There are now 50 people diagnosed with coronavirus in Israel.
By MAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMAN MARCH 9, 2020 22:26
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu adn Health Minister Ya'acov Litzman
address the nation on the coronavirus epidemic, March 4, 2020 (photo
credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu adn Health Minister Ya'acov Litzman
address the nation on the coronavirus epidemic, March 4, 2020
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
All people entering Israel from abroad will be required to spend 14 days
in home-isolation, the prime minister said Monday. The measure is
effective immediately.
"After a day of complex discussions, we have made a decision: Whoever
arrives in Israel from abroad will enter quarantine for 14 days,” Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement Monday as 50
Israelis were diagnosed with coronavirus. “This is a difficult decision
but it is essential to maintaining public health, which takes precedence
over everything.
“This decision will be in effect for two weeks,” he continued. “At the
same time, we will make decisions to safeguard the Israeli economy."
Specifically, the isolation requirement applies to both Israelis and
foreign travelers alike. No non-citizens will be able to enter Israel
without proving they have a place to stay out their quarantine.
Tourists who are already in Israel will be given a few days to organize
their flights back home.
The Health Ministry is asking that these tourists follow five
guidelines: 1) Call Magen David Adom if they experience any symptoms; 2)
pay careful attention to their personal hygiene; 3) stay away from
public gatherings; 4) understand that they cannot leave and then return
to the country; 5) report on their whereabouts while in Israel.
The quarantine does not apply retroactively, explained Health Minister
director-general Moshe Bar Siman Tov. Though he cautioned that any
Israeli or tourist who landed in the country in the last 14 days and
shows symptoms of the virus – fever, cough or difficulty breathing –
call Magen David Adom and be tested.
He said the country made the decision to ensure that the number of sick
patients in Israel does not too rapidly expand so that the health care
community can continue to effectively treat those people who are sick
with the disease, also known as COVID-19.
“We know that the economic impact is dramatic, but health comes above
all else,” he said, cautioning that if Israel did not take harsh enough
steps the country could end up like Italy, which is experienced both
untenable strain on its health system and severe economic challenges as
a result of the rapid spread of the virus.
He said that “if we see that the situation changes then we will change
our policies… We can succeed if the public cooperates.”
The message came less than one hour after Israel's Health Ministry
announced three more people were diagnosed with coronavirus: patients
No. 40, No. 41 and No. 42. It also came two hours before patients No. 43
through 50 were announced.
It also came hours after the World Health Organization officially
declared the coronavirus a global epidemic.
“This is an uneven epidemic at the global level," said WHO
director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a virtual press
conference on Monday.
Both patients 41 and 42 are from Tel Aviv and recently traveled to
Europe. The Health Ministry said that it is still investigating the
patients' whereabouts and will provide more details soon.
Patient No. 42 is a 41-year-old man from the Sharon area who returned
from Spain on March 2. He has been in isolation since March 4.
Patient No. 43 is a 40-year-old woman from central Israel who returned
from France. Patient No. 44 is a woman from central Israel who came back
from a organized mission in Spain.
Patient No. 45 is a 60-year-old woman from Jerusalem who was in contact
with a known coronavirus patient.
Patients 46 through 48 are from central Israel and contracted the virus
from another known coronavirus patient.
Patients 49 and 50 are from Haifa. Patient 49 returned from vacationing
in Spain via Portugal on March 4 and No. 50 returned from Spain on March
3. She has been in quarantine since March 4.
Also, on Monday, Sheba Medical Center reported that they were testing
one of their senior physicians for coronavirus after her husband came
down with the disease. At press time, the results have not yet been
confirmed. In the meantime, the hospital put those who worked near her
in temporary and preventative isolation.
On Sunday, the Health Ministry announced more than a dozen new cases of
coronavirus in Israel – patients 26 through 39. It is still unknown how
one of those patients, No. 29, was infected with the virus.
The coronavirus is spreading rapidly. Health authorities in the United
Kingdom reported that the number of people infected in the country rose
from 273 to 319 people on Monday. French authorities also confirmed that
1,191 people have been diagnosed with the virus so far, and that two
more people died during the past 24 hours.
Italy remains the country with the highest infections in Europe.
“As you know, over the weekend we crossed 100,000 reported cases of
COVID-19 in 100 countries,” Ghebreyesus said during the press call.
“It’s certainly troubling that so many people and countries have been
affected so quickly.
“Now that the virus has a foothold in so many countries, the threat of a
pandemic has become very real,” he continued.
But he said that this would be the first pandemic in history that could
be controlled.
“The great advantage we have is that the decisions we all make – as
governments, businesses, communities, families and individuals – can
influence the trajectory of this epidemic,” he said. “We need to
remember that with decisive, early action, we can slow down the virus
and prevent infections.”
On Monday, hundreds of Israeli students and teachers who had taken a
recent field trip to Bethlehem entered quarantine after it was
discovered that more than two dozen Palestinians have been diagnosed
with the potentially lethal virus. In total, according to the Health
Ministry, 3,953 students and teachers in quarantine in Israel.
Mr. Samuel Abuab, CEO of the Education Ministry, said that the main
challenge the country’s education system faces is maintaining the
curriculum while students sit in isolation.
“We are keeping a close eye on those who are in isolation,” he said in a
statement, noting that the ministry is hoping to introduce a distance
learning program to “reduce the damage of lost time in school.”
A mental health crisis center announced that it would open a hotline on
Tuesday to assist those suffering from mental health issues while in
isolation. Also, two more hospitals – Hadassah-University Medical Center
in Jerusalem's Ein Kerem and Rabin Medical Center in the Sharon region –
said they are now ready to take in coronavirus patients, too.
Police met Monday morning and carried out a security assessment in
connection with the outbreak of the coronavirus in Israel.
“The police are putting into the current situation all necessary
resources to provide a fast response to all the possible scenarios,”
said acting Police commissioner Moti Cohen, noting that coronavirus will
likely be the main focus of the Police’s operations over the next few weeks.
“Civilian discipline saves lives,” he said.
At the meeting, the police also discussed their investigations into fake
news. Investigations into false reports are being investigated by the
Police Cybersecurity Unit.
“We urge the general public to act in a responsible way and not
republish false information,” the Police said in a statement.
The country’s decision came after at least 48 hours of deliberations,
including a call between the prime minister and Vice President Mike
Pence that took place Sunday.
“US Vice President Mike Pence asked Netanyahu in their telephone
conversation yesterday that Israel's new home-isolation policy not only
focus on the US and several other European countries but that it would
include all countries of the world,” Israeli reporter Barak Ravid
tweeted shortly after the announcement was made Monday.
Earlier in the day, Health Minister Ya’acov Litzman told Israel’s radio
103 FM that America would be supportive of whatever decision the country
makes.
“I was present when the prime minister spoke with Vice President Mike
Pence, and there was no argument: They agreed on everything,” Litzman
said. “This is not a question of America or not of America.”
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has been trying to calm the global
panic, largely due to fear of an unprecedented economic crisis, despite
more than 100 cases being diagnosed in the last 24 hours in New York alone.
“So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu,” the president
tweeted Monday. “It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing
is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546
confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!”
--
So many immigrant groups have swept through our town
that Brooklyn, like Atlantis, reaches mythological
proportions in the mind of the world - RI Safir 1998
http://www.mrbrklyn.com
DRM is THEFT - We are the STAKEHOLDERS - RI Safir 2002
http://www.nylxs.com - Leadership Development in Free Software
http://www.brooklyn-living.com
Being so tracked is for FARM ANIMALS and extermination camps,
but incompatible with living as a free human being. -RI Safir 2013
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