Netanyahu convenes "coronavirus cabinet" to discuss stopping air travel after UK discovers mutated virus strain. Meanwhile, Israelis aged 60 and over line up at medical clinics across the country to receive Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine.
Israelis aged 60 and over arrived at medical clinics across the country to receive their coronavirus vaccine as the so-called "coronavirus cabinet" convened to discuss the reimposition of a number of restrictions on movement, Monday.
Health Minister Yuli Edelstein has ordered the establishment of 12 vaccination centers to serve members of all of Israel's healthcare providers in the cities of Kiryat Gat, Karmiel, Eilt, Beit Shemesh, Dimona, Arad, Safed, Kiryat Shmona, Shefaram, Sderot, and Umm al-Fahm.
According to Edelstein, tens of thousands of healthcare workers were inoculated on Sunday, and around 200,000 Israelis had made appointments to receive the vaccine.
On Monday, the coronavirus cabinet convened to discuss the reimposition of a number of restrictions following an increase in the spread of the virus. Israel confirmed 2,846 new cases of the coronavirus among the 70,989 people who tested for the virus, Sunday, for an infection rate of 4.1%. Israel currently has 25,159 active cases, 470 of which are serious. Of those in serious condition, 112 are on ventilators. So far, 3,109 people have died.
Among the restrictions to be discussed, a ban on foreign nationals entering Israel and ordering Israelis returning from overseas into mandatory quarantine.
The Health Ministry has ordered genetic sequencing of Israelis returning from Britain and other countries and those in quarantine found to be carrying the virus in order ascertain whether they are carrying a new mutated strain discovered in Great Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Australia.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had called Monday's meeting "for one purpose and that is to close the skies. Since last night's meeting, the mutation has been spreading in many countries and it is clear to us that we are at the beginning of a very rapid spread" of the disease.
Following a six-hour meeting of the cabinet on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said officials were weighing a general lockdown to stop the spread of the virus. He said a new, mutated strain of the virus discovered in Britain would impact the cabinet's next steps.
Health Ministry Director Hezy Levi said he did not believe the strain was more dangerous and that it would respond to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
"In South East England, a virus with a different structure that has undergone a number of mutations was discovered, and it's worrying. This virus has been found to be 60-70% more contagious than the one known to us, but it is not more violent. The disease is the same disease with the same process with the same non-violent course of action compared to the virus we know."
Levy said the virus was not likely to be immune to the vaccine.
"A majority of scientists involved in researching the mutation say the virus will probably not be immune to a vaccine that contains some proteins that cause antibodies in the body of the person who is inoculated. The way things look now, the mutant virus will not be immune to vaccines," he said.
According to Levy, molecular lab tests carried out in Israel can identify the mutant strain because they check a few segments: "It has been said that the virus slips under the radar' and the PCR tests [that detect RNA specific to the COVID-19 virus] don't recognize it. In Israel, we examine a few segments and that's why that won't happen in the State of Israel, and the virus won't slip under the radar."
In the meantime, one day after the British government revealed a new strain had been discovered and declared a lockdown on London and other areas of South East London, the United Kingdom recorded a significant increase in the number of daily infections. On Sunday, the UK recorded 36,000 new cases, double the amount recorded just one week priod, and the highest number of new daily cases since the outbreak of the pandemic. British Health Minister Matt Hancock said the outbreak of the new strain was out of control and called on British citizens to behave as if they knew they had contracted the virus and enter into quarantine.
According to Hancock, the lockdown could go on for months. The British government called on those residents of areas imposed by the lockdown not to leave their homes except for emergency purposes. The lockdown in Wales has been tightened and Scotland and Northern Ireland were both set to see further restrictions following the Christmas holiday. The new strain of the virus was detected in tests carried out during the month of September and identified in October. Another mutated strain was identified in South Africa.
Following the announcement, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Australia, and Ireland announced a ban on incoming flights from Britain. France was set to join the European flight ban. The Spanish government asked the EU to consolidate a mandatory pan-European position on a UK flight ban.
Assaf Golan
Source: https://www.israelhayom.com/2020/12/21/pm-netanyahu-warns-of-very-rapid-spread-of-mutant-virus-strain/
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