Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared a phone call with the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Andrej Babiš and the Prime Minister of Bulgaria Boyko Borisov on Monday regarding Israel's coronavirus response, Walla reported.
During their talks, the three discussed various matters of cooperation between the countries, more notably dealing with the coronavirus pandemic within their respective countries.It was agreed that Netanyahu will travel to Prague in order to meet Babiš, while Borisov will come to Israel. As of Sunday morning, Israel had 2,440 active coronavirus cases, a number that has increased each day for about a week.“We are doing more tests, so we are going to find more carriers,” Assuta Medical Center chairman Prof. Shuki Shemer said. Sunday.Now, among other changes, members of a verified patient’s family, even if they are asymptomatic, are checked on the same day as their family member is diagnosed and then again five days later. Moreover, people who are asymptomatic but have come in close contact with a known patient, whether in school or on a bus or train, are screened, among other changes.
As the peak of the outbreak seems to have come and gone in most of the Western world, the general opinion is that Israel stood the test well - which has gained the attention of countries worldwide, and prompted today's phone call between the three state leaders.Specifically, the number of deaths was minimized compared to many other countries: as reported by the AFP, with 284 patients who succumbed to COVID-19, the Israel has registered a number of victims equivalent to 31 per million inhabitants, compared with around 310 deaths per million (10 times as many) in the US, about 560 in the UK and 427 in France.Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman and Rosella Tercatin contributed to this report.