Naftali Bennett’s 20-step action plan to solve coronavirus now

Bennett, who is trending high in recent political polls shared on Facebook shared his 20 steps “that I would have already taken tonight if I were prime minister.”

By MAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMAN
NAFTALI BENNETT stands outside Lod City Hall in July 2020. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
NAFTALI BENNETT stands outside Lod City Hall in July 2020.
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
MK Naftali Bennett is not the prime minister, but in a Facebook post on Tuesday night, he told the public what he would do to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus if he were.
He wrote his post after the coronavirus cabinet dispersed over a fight about demonstrations and synagogues. The meeting had lasted nearly nine hours.
Bennett (Yamina), who is trending high in recent political polls as trust in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plummets over his handling of the pandemic and his upcoming criminal trial, shared 20 steps “that I would have already taken tonight if I were prime minister.”
Here they are (shortened for space and clarity):
1. Inform everyone that there are no more [community] protests or prayers until the end of the lockdown.
2. Form a national coalition of chief rabbis and imams, Left and Right, ultra-Orthodox and Arab leaders, news editors and other influencers with a mission of ensuring that everyone will wear a mask all the time and there will be no gathering.
3. Lead a PR campaign: Mask instead of closure – if everyone wears a mask, Israel could defeat coronavirus in five to six weeks.
4. Instruct the education minister to prepare schools – this time for real – to operate in capsules.
5. Require the coronavirus commissioner to reach the capacity to screen 100,000 people a day by October 15.
6. Tell the coronavirus commissioner to begin implementing the “pooling method” of developing coronavirus test results, so that the capacity to test people fast is increased tenfold. This method is used successfully in the United States, Germany, China and other places. At the same time, urge scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science to implement their “Weizmann 2.0” method for faster testing.
7. Immediately activate wastewater monitoring technology for early detection of eruptions – this is a wonderful Israeli technology that is not being used in Israel.
8. Set a target to recruit 2,500 epidemiological trackers from Israel’s recently unemployed and establish five to six new call centers.
9. Launch a national serological survey to map who has already been infected.
10. Instead of using Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) surveillance on its own, which is falsely sending thousands of people into isolation, use Shin Bet tracking in conjunction with epidemiological investigations, and send people into isolation only when the agency report aligns with human tracing.
11. Anyone who enters isolation is tested within 24 hours and again 48 hours later. After two negative tests, the person is released.
12. Establish a team of 3,000 isolation assistants who help take care of people’s needs when they are in quarantine.
13. Pass immediate legislation that imposes fines on anyone caught without a mask in an enclosed space. At the same time, recruit 15,000 “coronavirus inspectors” to support enforcement efforts.
14. Operate “Magen Avot v’Imahot Plus” to provide weekly checkups of all elderly who are in senior living facilities and the staff who take care of them.
15. Assign the Health Ministry to increase the capacity of hospitals to manage 1,200 serious coronavirus patients, up from 800 today.
16. Prepare a clear exit strategy.
17. Instruct the finance minister to present a full program to support small businesses and, at the same time, launch a national professional training program within three weeks to help retrain individuals whose fields may not be viable during the course of the pandemic.
18. Address the nation every two days to answer questions and concerns and explain where the country stands in its efforts against the virus.
19. Identify someone or a team to be responsible for “learning from the world” – examining and connecting with those countries that are doing well and learning from them so their best practices can be applied in Israel.
20. Prepare Ben-Gurion Airport for the entry and exit of passengers through speedy coronavirus tests on location.