Medical experts ask gov't to postpone coronavirus lockdown

The council asked for a postponement of several days, in order to reassess the trends in morbidity and mortality rates.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Streets in Israel appear abandoned amid coronavirus lockdown (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Streets in Israel appear abandoned amid coronavirus lockdown
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
The Emergency Public Council for the coronavirus crisis has asked that the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, meeting on Thursday to discuss Israel's lockdown, to postpone the closures in light of recent infection and vaccination statistics.
The council, made up of 13 professors and four doctors from a variety of fields, said that the important indicators that show the need for lockdowns are the number of those seriously ill, mortality rates and strains on the healthcare system. According to the committee, these indicators have been improving slightly in the past few days.
The council members, the majority of which are medical and public health professionals, said that it has not yet been proved that the UK coronavirus mutation is more infectious, resistant to the vaccination or leads to more serious illness and that fear of the mutation was a consideration in deciding to lockdown.
These facts, in addition to the fact that 65% of at-risk populations have received the first dose of a vaccine and are close to being protected from the virus, indicate that the lockdown should be postponed, according to the council.
The council asked for a postponement of several days, in order to reassess the trends in morbidity and mortality rates.