Just when we thought we had won. Just when we believed we had beaten it. Just when we went back to “regular” routine, the “delta” variant of the Corona virus appeared and reshuffled the cards and showed us that we may have won one battle, but the war is still on.
While in June the number of daily new patients dropped to single digits, we are now back to a couple of thousand and the end is not yet in sight. The number of hospitalizations is increasing rapidly and also people are again dying from Covid-19.
While the new government is trying to grapple with the situation, the (just as) new opposition is of course crying foul and claiming that it would never have happened if they had been in power. While even opposition leader Netanyahu, (especially him) understands very well that the virus is unpredictable and does most of the time not take into account or adheres to regulations that are put in place, it doesn’t bother him to accuse the government of complete failure. And of course the revelation that both the Foreign minister, Lapid, and the Finance minister, Lieberman, do not attend the meetings of the Corona cabinet has not been helpful in trying to convince the population that the government is in control and doing everything it can. The excuse the two ministers use focuses on the idea that this time around the experts (medical experts?) need to have a bigger say in the decision making and politics and economics should be subject to medical considerations, sounds reasonable but it is unclear to what extend this is indeed the case and to what extend it should be that way.
It is hard to discern who is right here of course. The virus in unpredictable, the measures taken never have an immediate effect but show results, if any, only a couple of weeks later and the number of “experts” giving (often contradicting) advice, has not diminished compared the previous rounds. The confusion appears enormous, the insecurity and hesitation by the people who need to make the decisions the same as in the previous rounds and at least for now, it appears the virus is winning with daily increases in the number of new infections.
There are differences (and advantages) though when comparing the current status with previous outbreaks. While still a lot is uncertain and unpredictable, there is a much better understanding of the disease now than a year ago and also treatment options have expanded, supposedly leading to less severely ill patients. It should create the ability to make better informed decisions and handle and control the pandemic better that in previous months. But the results do remain unpredictable to a major extend and the government (and the people) would do best by erring on the side of caution.
There are two differences that may in the end prove to be the crucial measurements to turn the situation around and those are first, that there is a better understanding how to prevent the spread of the disease and how to detect it when it does spread, and second, the vaccinations. The main (and almost only) limitations with these two major issues is that they are both very much dependent of the cooperation of the population and the ability of people to understand and follow the guidelines.
It has become clear that one of the main factors in the prevention of the spread of the disease is a very simple one. The facemask. The mask will to a large extend both prevent a sick person from spreading the disease as well as a healthy person from catching the (airborne) virus. The early decision to reinstate the obligatory use of facemasks indoors is a major step in controlling the disease and the enforcement should be aggressive and constant. In addition, the so-called “green pass” (proof of vaccination or recovery from the disease) will be reinstated and come in force on Sunday.
The success of controlling the virus in previous rounds has been largely attributed to the successful campaign of vaccination that Israel started early and which resulted in more than five million Israelis vaccinated. However, the current situation shows that it is not sufficient and the fact that more than one million Israelis have refused vaccination until now may be a serious stumbling block in attempts to control the disease this time around. The government has (a first in the world) initiated campaign to give the mature population a third (booster) shot and the response has been favorable with large numbers of sixty plus Israelis getting the third shot. But the large number of Israelis that have not been inoculated at all form a danger to themselves and to all of us. With the government claiming today that the success of the country in battling the virus hinges on the vaccination of a large part of these anti-vaxxers, it is high time to take harsher measures against those that refuse. While judicially it appears impossible to force these people to get vaccinated, strict limitations on their freedom of movement are both possible and justifiable. The main issue remains enforcement, but there is no reason not to prevent the entry of not-vaccinated people into cinemas, theaters, restaurants, musea, shopping centers, public transport etc. in fact all places where mass gatherings of people would be at risk because these people are not vaccinated. No doubt this is politically a very problematic issue but, like a driver without a license is endangering other people and thus is not allowed to drive, so should non-vaccinated people be prevented from entry into any event or place where he will put others at risk. This (harsh) measure is justified now even more since it has been shown that the delta variant is more infectious and the vaccine protects less against it, putting also vaccinated people at risk.
There have been strong appeals by various leaders, to show Israeli solidarity and get vaccinated. Until now it has had little or no effect. Maybe the myth of “Israeli Solidarity” is strongly overrated and good old enforcement is the best alternative we have left. It is high time we start using it.
I hope you found this article interesting and I welcome any comments you may have.
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