Israel: PM Naftali Bennett to keep economy open amid historic spike in COVID cases

On January 11, the Israeli administration announced new measures targeted at assisting people who have been negatively affected by self-isolation regulations. Speaking at a news conference, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett asserted that he is working to keep the economy open despite a historic surge in morbidity caused by the Omicron variant of COVID.

However, he warned, "The next few weeks are going to be tough. Israel has been providing some of the best protection to its citizens, but each and every one of us must take responsibility for our children and parents. There is no room for panic of hysteria."

He claimed that the world is facing an outbreak of infection that hasn't been witnessed in a hundred years. Bennett remarked at the opening of a live press conference that evening that Omicron is more contagious than all of the others combined.

In addition, the PM stated that his goal is that "the economy will stay open as much as possible and will still be working. I don’t want to see people losing their jobs, closing their businesses."

Workers' salary to be guaranteed from the first day of isolation

All workers' salaries will be guaranteed from Day 1 of self-isolation, and we will also give compensation for self-employed, said Naftali Bennett, adding that a new scheme based on a specific payment mechanism for each day of self-isolation was being developed. Bennett went on to add that the government will continue to provide every Israeli student with three free at-home test kits and that businesses and employees who suffer financial losses as a result of the self-isolating workforce will be compensated generously.

The government previously declared that the time spent in isolation for asymptomatic coronavirus cases will be reduced from ten to seven days in an effort to keep schools and businesses open as Omicron cases spread swiftly. People who have been infected with the coronavirus but have not shown signs of COVID-19 for three days can be released from isolation after seven days, according to the Health Ministry. Those who demonstrate symptoms would still have to stay in isolation for another 10 days. The conclusion was reached after a ministry investigation of 80 cases of the virus's Omicron strain. According to the Health Ministry, lab tests revealed a 6% chance of viral development after seven days of illness.

Bennett noted that preserving the elderly and at-risk groups, as well as children, is a priority alongside keeping the economy open. He stated that the standards for schools will be the same as for adults, and as a result, many children will be quarantined because many are not vaccinated. Furthermore, he warned the medical facilities to expect up to 4,000 serious cases during the peak of the Omicron wave, far more than the 1,500-2,500 predicted by some specialists.

Since the start of the pandemic, Israel has reported 1.5 million coronavirus illnesses and over 8,000 deaths. Infections have reached new highs in the last week, although hospitalisations are still low in comparison to prior coronavirus outbreaks.

(With inputs from agencies)

Image: AP