Defense Minister Naftali Bennett (Yamina) held an online press conference Sunday afternoon, commenting on the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“We have to present the public with a clear outline,” he said. “We have to explain what’s going to be happening. All the data has to be made available to the public. Right now, that’s not the way things are – the Health Ministry isn’t publishing the data it uses in order to make recommendations and decisions, but this has to change in order to restore public trust.”

“I see that people are proud of the fact that Israel is supposedly one of the countries with the lowest mortality rates per million people,” he added. “Look it up in Google – we’re in 32nd place. We have to be very careful about how we proceed.”

The Health Ministry said it was planning a significant reduction in the personal restrictions placed on Israelis during the coronavirus crisis following a series of studies.

Journalist Karen Marciano reported that according to a document formulated in the ministry, additional social distancing directives will be lifted this week.

According to Marciano, the biggest challenge ahead is the re-opening of malls and markets. While the Treasury has suggested a quick timeframe for the move, the Health Ministry wants to wait another two weeks to avoid a repeat of the recent outbreak.

The downward trend in the coronavirus infection rate has continued in recent days. According to updated Health Ministry data as of this morning, just 41 new CV-19 cases were diagnosed in Israel over the previous day.