COVID-19 pandemic in Israel

Magen David Adom ambulance in Tel Aviv

The COVID-19 pandemic occurs in Israel as part of the global COVID-19 pandemic since February 21, 2020 on. The first positive diagnosis was made at Sheba Medical Center when an Israeli citizen was examined on her return from Japan ; the patient had previously taken a cruise on the Diamond Princess . In mid-March 2020, Israel was one of the hardest hit countries in the Middle East .

background

The COVID-19 pandemic began in the People's Republic of China in December 2019 . The novel respiratory disease COVID-19 is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus from the Coronaviridae group . On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified the event as a global pandemic .

statistics

Confirmed infections (cumulative) in Israel
according to data from the CSSE at Johns Hopkins University

Deaths (cumulative) in Israel
according to data from the CSSE at Johns Hopkins University

course

On March 17, 2020, it became known that Interior Minister Arje Deri , Agriculture Minister Zachi Ha-Negbi and two Knesset members were quarantined after meeting an infected person. Economy Minister Eli Cohen no longer ruled out a complete standstill in the country.

An analysis of the genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 viruses from various infected people in Israel in May 2020 showed that seven out of ten were infected with a virus strain that had been introduced to Israel from the USA. Tel Aviv University researchers also identified virus strains from Belgium (8%), France (6%), United Kingdom (5%), Spain (3%), Italy (2%), Philippines (2%), Australia ( 2%) and Russia (2%).

Until the beginning of May, very strict exit restrictions applied in Israel; in mid-May, only 16 newly infected people were counted per day in Israel. Then abruptly easing was allowed (probably also in view of the difficult economic situation with an unemployment rate of around 20 percent); the schools were opened. When temperatures reached 42 degrees during the first heat wave of the year, the Ministry of Health temporarily lifted the obligation to wear masks . Many people later ignored this duty. Since the fine was doubled to 500 shekels (around 130 euros), everyone has again complied with the mask requirement.

On June 20, the "National Center for Information and Knowledge in the Fight against the Coronavirus" was the first to officially announce that there will be thousands of new infections per day and several hundred additional coronavirus deaths if Israel does not take action against the second wave soon .

In early July, 10,000 active cases and more than 1,000 new infections a day were reported. The proportion of Israelis who tested positive has quadrupled to more than four percent of all those tested. The infected are now much younger than in the spring. Private events in closed rooms have been limited to 20 participants since July 3, and to 50 in synagogues, bars and clubs.

On July 6, bars, clubs, theaters, wedding halls, concert halls, swimming pools and fitness centers were ordered to close.

On July 9, 2020, 1,464 new cases and 35,500 infected people were reported. The following day, curfews were imposed in certain areas of the cities of Jerusalem, Beth Shemesh, Lod, Ramla and Kirjat Mal'achi, and others were extended elsewhere. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been massively criticized for his actions and communications regarding the Covid-19 pandemic.

activities

First, the Israeli government imposed a 14-day home quarantine on all returnees from Japan and South Korea . As a result, an entry ban was also imposed on all citizens of South Korea and all travelers who had been in South Korea in the past 14 days. On March 6, at 8 a.m., an order from the Interior Minister came into force, according to which travelers from Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Austria and Switzerland are no longer allowed to enter Israel unless they can prove the possibility of quarantine in a locked housing unit . The crossing at the Allenby Bridge from Jordan to the West Bank, which is controlled by Israeli authorities, has been completely closed. On March 11, 2020, Israel prohibited events and gatherings of more than 100 people. Schools and universities were closed. Five days later, the number for meetings was lowered to ten, with orders to be kept at least two meters apart. On March 12, 2020, the entry restrictions were extended to all travelers from abroad. Violations of the quarantine were threatened with imprisonment of up to seven years. In addition, schools and universities were closed. On March 17, the Israeli embassy in Berlin was closed after Ambassador Jeremy Issacharoff tested positive for COVID-19. On March 18, it was ordered to close all hotels, kindergartens, shops, shopping malls, restaurants, entertainment venues such as amusement parks, theaters, cinemas and fitness centers. Grocery stores, banks, pharmacies and petrol stations were excluded. The number of passengers on public buses has been restricted and cash payments have been prohibited. The announcement of these measures led to hamster purchases among the population. Hotels with at least 200 beds and a maximum distance of 30 kilometers to a medical center are to be converted and operated by the Israeli army for an initial month and with an extension option for a further month to accommodate patients with mild disease .

According to the recommendation of the Ministry of Health, foreigners have been denied entry to Israel since March 18, even if they can prove a home quarantine.

In the course of the second half of March 2020, the railroad's passenger traffic was gradually stopped until it was completely stopped on March 25, 2020 following a corresponding government decision. From the end of April 2020, the resumption of traffic was considered several times and postponed, most recently to June 1, 2020.

With a new regulation, the domestic secret service Schin Bet received general permission to collect individual information from citizens. Schin Bet accessed the mobile phone and movement data of people and registered patients. The data was not anonymized. People who, according to this data, were identified as contact persons for infected persons received a request to go to quarantine immediately.

The use of mass surveillance instruments began on March 18, 2020 . 400 people who had been in contact with coronavirus carriers were informed by SMS that they had to go into quarantine. The mass surveillance aims to alert people who have been within two meters for 10 minutes or more in the past two weeks of someone who has been found to be a carrier of coronavirus. The self-quarantine lasts 14 days; so if the incident happened 10 days earlier, the self-quarantine must last for four days. The electronic tracking program met with sharp criticism, including from members of the government. Its legality has been challenged in the Supreme Court.

On March 19, the first delivery of 100,000 coronavirus tests, apparently organized by the Mossad secret service abroad, arrived . According to research by the New York Times, the service also secured medical protective equipment and the technical knowledge needed to build ventilators and to set up our own production facility for mask production. Two of the special operations failed - officials in Germany stopped a delivery before the Mossad could get it out of the factory, and another failed when Indian customs officials stopped a delivery of disinfectant.

On April 2, 2020, Bnei Berak , the place with the highest percentage of infected people, was the first Israeli city to be declared a restricted zone and sealed off by the police. Of the approximately 200,000 mostly ultra-Orthodox residents, 7030 had been infected with the virus by then.

The schools were reopened at the beginning of May, the beaches in mid-May, and bars and restaurants can be visited again from the 22nd week. Moshe Bar-Simon-Tow as Director General of the Ministry of Health noted an increase in infection rates again, over a longer period of time and in different parts of the country. Neither the heat waves nor the humidity made the disease go away. Considerations are being made about closing some schools or classes or about early summer vacation.

religion

prayer

In mid-February 2020, numerous Orthodox Jews met at the Western Wall in Jerusalem for a mass prayer against the corona virus. The top rabbis of Israel recommended around March 12, 2020, to stay away from the Western Wall entirely . Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch , who was responsible for the Western Wall, ordered the ritual kissing of the wall to be stopped in order not to spread the disease any further. The order of the Israeli government of March 16, according to which gatherings may not consist of more than ten people, also applies to the stay at the Western Wall.

Israel is troubled by high coronavirus infection rates among ultra-Orthodox Jews. Nonetheless, a minority of them oppose state measures.

A kashrut expert from Beitar Illit lost his work visa in the US after flying to the US in mid-April 2020 and back to Israel on a United Airlines flight on April 23, without informing the authorities that he was shortly before tested for the virus during the trip to the USA and received a positive result a little later. After re-entering Israel, he, like the other passengers on his flight, had to go into quarantine.

See also

• COVID-19 pandemic in Palestine
• List of epidemics and pandemics
• List of deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic

Web links

Commons : COVID-19 Pandemic in Israel  - Pictures, Videos and Audio Files Collection

• The Novel Coronavirus , created by the Ministry of Health (Israel)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Pulmonologists on the net: Covid-19: Causes . Online at www.lungenaerzte-im-netz.de. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
2. ↑ Tagesschau: “Deeply worried”. WHO speaks of corona pandemic. March 11, 2020. Online at www.tagesschau.de. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
3. ^ Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. Retrieved April 22, 2020 (English). 
4. ↑ CSSEGISandData / COVID-19. Retrieved July 1, 2020 . 
5. ↑ worldometer coronavirus. Retrieved July 1, 2020 . 
6. ↑ The Times of Israel : Ministers Deri, Hanegbi and 2 MKs sent to quarantine after meeting virus carrier , March 17, 2020.
7. ↑ Nathan Jeffay: "US biggest source by far of Israel's COVID-19 cases, genome sequencing shows" timesofisrael.com from May 18, 2020
8. ↑ ^{a b c} https://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/zeitgeschehen/2020-07/israel-coronavirus-lockdown-infektiven-zahlen-anstieg-pandemie/komplettansicht
9. ↑ https://www.juedische-allgemeine.de/israel/neuer-brennpunkt-tel-aviv/
10. ↑ https://www.krankenkassen.de/dpa/304169.html
11. ↑ https://israel Zwischenzeilen.com/2020/06/zweite-corona-welle-rollt-auf-israel-zu/
12. ↑ sueddeutsche.de June 21, 2020: Israeli authorities warn: Second wave begins
13. ↑ FAZ.net July 4, 2020: The second wave is here
14. ↑ https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/international/pandemie-zweite-corona-welle-in-israel-netanjahu-hat-viel-vertrauen-verspiele/25986350.html?ticket=ST-16682389-3nnmB6j4boR2jliERjgn-ap2
15. ↑ https://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/zeitgeschehen/2020-07/israel-corona-neuinfektiven-rekordwert-eausperren
16. ↑ https://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/zeitgeschehen/2020-07/israel-coronavirus-lockdown-infektiven-zahlen-anstieg-pandemie/komplettansicht
17. ↑ Coronavirus consequences (update): Israel no longer allows Germans into the country. Retrieved March 19, 2020 . 
18. ↑ Haaretz : Israel Shutters Schools and Universities as Coronavirus Cases Rise to 126 , March 13, 2020.
19. ↑ Sabine Brandes: Tough measures against quarantine breakers. March 11, 2020, accessed March 19, 2020 . 
20. ↑ Coronavirus - shops and restaurants closed. Retrieved on March 19, 2020 (German). 
21. ↑ VIRUS: Israel wants to use hotels for the recovery of corona patients. Retrieved March 19, 2020 . 
22. ↑ Embassy Israel: 1 / Residents Authority: According to the recommendations of the Ministry of Health, foreigners will no longer be allowed to enter Israel from today, even if they have proven that they can go into quarantine at home on arrival. Pic.twitter.com / 4FNLsZv6gq. In: Twitter IsraelinGermany. March 19, 2020, accessed March 19, 2020 . 
23. ^ Press release from Israel Railways from March 22, 2020. In: HaRakevet 129 from June 2020, p. 4 (5).
24. ^ Announcement in HaRakevet 129 from June 2020, p. 7, letter h.
25. ↑ Corona: Israel uses cell phone data to check infected people. In: Handelsblatt. Retrieved March 19, 2020 . 
26. ↑ timesofisrael.com
27. ↑ Ronen Bergman: "Israel's Not-So-Secret Weapon in Coronavirus Fight: The Spies of Mossad" New York Times April 12, 2020.
28. ↑ "Police minimize Bnei Brak enforcement on Shabbat; arrest 10 Haredim in Jerusalem" timesofisrael.com from April 4, 2020.
29. ^ Government declares Bnei Brak a restricted area. Israelnetz.de , April 3, 2020, accessed on April 7, 2020 . 
30. ↑ School closings in Israel possible again. Zeit im Bild 1 with Tim Cupal May 30, 2020.
31. ↑ Corona and the Western Wall: From mass prayer to the ban on kissing. Retrieved March 19, 2020 . 
32. ↑ Coronavirus outbreak: Hundreds hold mass prayer at Jerusalem's Western Wall for those impacted on YouTube , from February 16, 2020.
33. ↑ Agencies and TOI staff: Palestinians close Al-Aqsa Mosque, Dome of the Rock over coronavirus fears. Retrieved March 19, 2020 (American English). 
34. ↑ Alexandra Rojkov: Israel's Ultra-Orthodox: The Messiah against Covid-19. In: Spiegel Online . April 3, 2020, accessed May 10, 2020 . 
35. ↑ Jochen Stahnke: "The Torah protects". In: FAZ.net . March 30, 2020, accessed May 10, 2020 . 
36. ↑ "US said to annul work visa of Israeli who took flight home knowing he had virus" Times of Israel of April 25, 2020.

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