Israel leads the world in time spent in coronavirus lockdowns

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Israel has been in lockdown for 139 days, longer than any other country.

By TZVI JOFFRE
Stores in Jerusalem's Mamilla mall are seen closed amid the ongoing coronavirus lockdown, on January 14, 2021. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Stores in Jerusalem's Mamilla mall are seen closed amid the ongoing coronavirus lockdown, on January 14, 2021.
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Israel, leading the world in coronavirus vaccinations, is also the leader in the amount of time spent in coronavirus lockdowns, as well as among the highest-ranking in the stringency of its response to the pandemic.
The country scored 86.28 – higher than any other country – on the Containment and Health Index developed by the Oxford Coronavirus Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT) project.
The index is based on school closures, workplace closures, cancellation of public events, restrictions of public gatherings, closures of public transportation, stay-at-home requirements, public information campaigns, restrictions on internal movements, international travel controls, testing policy, the extent of contact tracing, requirements to wear face coverings, and policies pertaining to vaccine rollout.
The highest score possible is 100, with higher scores indicating stricter responses.
The country with the next-highest index score is Cyprus, at 84.49.
Tourism Minister Orit Farkash-Hacohen expressed outrage on Thursday that Israel has been in lockdown for 139 days since the beginning of the pandemic, longer than any other country. By comparison, Germany has been in lockdown for a total of 88 days, the UK for 79 days and Spain for 67 days.
She called for a gradual reopening to take place alongside enforcement, localized handling of outbreaks, aid to hospitals and the implementation of the green passport plan. The government was to meet on Thursday to discuss extending the current lockdown for an additional week.
Despite the strict measures, Israel still has one of the highest ratios of infections per million people, with over 71,303 confirmed cases per million. In comparison, the US has reported 76,874 cases per million people, and the UK has reported 54,880. However Israel’s case fatality rate – the number of deaths compared with the number of those infected – is much lower than in many other countries, including the US and the UK.
The country with the highest number of cases per million people is Andorra, which reported 125,749 cases per million people. Andorra has a population of just 77,265 people.