Assistant to the Head of Health Services, Dr. Anat Tzuriel Farber, testified today (Sunday) at a hearing of the Constitution and Law Committee, that the lockdown imposed on Tiberias was the result of a technical error.
Farber said at the hearing, “An error related to a [faulty analysis of COVID-19 stats] was made, forcing us to place the city on lockdown. We make scrupulous efforts to review every piece of data that comes our way.”
MK Gideon Sa’ar (Likud) criticized the method of deciding when to place a city on lockdown. According to Sa’ar, “Imposing lockdown isn’t a way of solving the coronavirus crisis – it’s a way of destroying our economy and society [as a whole.]”
The Mayor of Elad also criticized the decision to place a lockdown on his city,
“I get a phone call on Friday and the Health Minister informs me Elad is being closed down. I tell him, sure, I’m on board – just let me know what happens once we go ahead with the move. We have a city of 50,000 residents and 63% below the age of 18. How are we going to deal with that? Have the ‘Corona Hotels’ reopened already? We had 30 CV-19 cases [in the city] and I asked him to let me place them in the hotels and allow life in the city to continue. [He] told they’d handle it. Five days later, I get another call telling me they’re placing my city on lockdown.”
The mayor was left to wonder why even as the city’s residents complied with instructions and police did their part enforcing the law, Elad still ended up on lockdown.
“I ask the Minister of Health: Why are you closing down the city? How’s it going to help? If you tell me how, I’m on board. He tells me, ‘I’m all for but I’m not the one in charge. I can’t make the order to place people in ‘Carona Hotels’ and have to impose lockdown on the city instead. But what am I left to deal with? There are 35,000 children in our city,” he lamented.
Pressed by United Torah Judaism MK Yaakov Asher, the chairman of the committee, on the extent of the error, Zurel-Farber says she doesn’t know.
Source: Arutz Sheva
Header: Tiberias is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in the Lower Galilee. Established in 20 CE, it was named in honour of the emperor Tiberius.Tiberias has been venerated in Judaism since the middle of the 2nd century CE and since the 16th century has been considered one of Judaism’s Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Hebron and Safed.In the 2nd-10th centuries, Tiberias was the largest Jewish city in the Galilee and the political and religious hub of the Jews of Palestine. According to Christian tradition, Jesus performed several miracles in the Tiberias district, making it an important pilgrimage site for Christians. Tiberias has historically been known for its hot springs, believed to cure skin and other ailments, for thousands of years.The picture shows an aerial view of the city. Photo by Itamar Grinberg.
Note: the following article was published in 23 June
Prime Minister Netanyahu on Tuesday convened the ministerial committee in charge of declaring ‘restricted areas.’
The committee decided to declare the city of Elad a restricted area as well as several neighborhoods in Tiberias, including Ramat Teverya B, Ramat Teverya C, Teverya Illit, the Ben Gurion neighborhood, and Neighborhood 200.
These areas will be declared restricted zones for seven days staring at 8 AM tomorrow morning and lasting until 8 AM on Wednesday, July 1.
The prime minister said following the discussion: “Due to the increase in morbidity, we received the ministerial committee’s recommendation that the Health Ministry impose restrictions on several neighborhoods in Tiberias and in the city of Elad. We will examine other communities tomorrow morning.”
“The surest way to stop this outbreak is for all citizens of Israel to wear masks and maintain social distancing,” Netanyahu said.