Israeli Health Ministry official says heading to lockdown if no policy changes made
Despite rise in cases in the country, severe infections have only increased slightly
A senior Israeli Health Ministry official said Thursday evening that the country is heading for further lockdown unless the new government changes its policy to stem the rise in coronavirus cases.
While Israel has seen an increase in the number of daily infections in recent weeks, severe cases have only increased slightly and few deaths have been recorded.
Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, head of public health services at the ministry, told public broadcaster Kan that she opposes using the number of severe cases as a benchmark, rather than the number of new infections, during the formulation of the policy to combat COVID-19.
Her comments come as the government has largely refrained from reimposing new restrictions amid rising cases, despite health officials reportedly pushing for tougher measures.
Israel on Thursday registered two deaths from complications of COVID-19, the first coronavirus fatalities recorded in the Jewish state for over two weeks.
A total of 450 new daily cases were reported as of Friday morning, according to the ministry's coronavirus database.
The number of patients in serious or critical condition stood at 39 with 16 people in critical condition and 12 on respirators.
The percentage of positive tests was at 0.7 percent out of 71,261 tests administered on Thursday.