Significant rise in IDF troops diagnosed with coronavirus

Gantz: Corona will be with us for the next year and a half...perhaps even longer

By ANNA AHRONHEIM
The IDF holds a blood drive in light of the coronavirus crisis (photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
The IDF holds a blood drive in light of the coronavirus crisis
(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
With the number of coronavirus patients in the IDF increasing significantly over the last week, the Israeli military is preparing for an even greater outbreak among troops.
The number of soldiers diagnosed with COVID-19 has risen to 93 after 27 troops from Bahad 11 training base tested positive for the virus. All are in light condition.
Another 2700 troops are in quarantine, 200 of them from Bahad 11, compared to 350 at the beginning of June.
Several officers on the IDF General Staff have also entered quarantine, including the head of the IDF’s C4I & Cyber Defense Directorate Maj.-Gen. Lior Carmeli, Incoming Central Command head Maj-Gen. Tamir Yadai, Southern Command head Maj-Gen.Hertzi Halevi, Gaza Division Commander Brig.-Gen.Eliezer Toledano, 80th Division Commander Brig.-Gen. Gur Schriebmann.
IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Maj.-Gen. Eyal Zamir has been coordinating the military’s response to the virus since the first outbreak began earlier this year along with the Operations Directorate led by Maj.-Gen. Aaron Haliva, the Medical Corps and the Homefront Command which works closely with civilian emergency response services.
On Sunday Zamir informed troops and commanders that due “significant increase in the number of individuals diagnosed with corona,”  servicemembers must adhere to a combination of social distancing, personal hygiene, and the wearing of masks in order to prevent the disease from spreading in military units.
“Corona is not behind us! "Life in the presence of the disease" means there will be more deadly waves [of the virus] and it is in our hands to reduce [the number of sick] and maintain the IDF's operational competence and the health of our troops,” Zamir wrote.
With the rise of soldiers testing positive for the virus, the IDF is reportedly contemplating the decision to have troops return to capsule systems in, though soldiers are expected to be allowed to enter and leave their bases freely.
The Operations Division has prepared a plan for significant outbreaks in cities across the country as well as in Bedouin villages and towns which has seen a spike in cases. On Thursday, a partial lockdown was placed on neighborhoods in the Bedouin towns of Rahat and Arara in the Negev as well as on Jaffa’s Ajami neighborhood.
The latest numbers of Israelis diagnosed with the virus currently stands at 20,686 of which 4,717 are active cases. There are 39 people who are seriously ill including 29 on ventilators. A total of 305 Israelis have died from the virus.
During the cabinet meeting on Sunday, Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that the biggest challenge is to learn how to manage daily lives under the constant threat of contracting the virus.
Gantz warned that it is an issue “which will accompany us for the next year and a half, and may even longer” and that there must be “precise guidelines, proper preparations at the governmental level, the Corona cabinet, the relevant minister of health downwards and personal responsibility from the public upwards.”
Addressing government ministers, Gantz said that the government must not create public hysteria but must be “responsible in continuing to advance our guidelines and balanced vision” as to how the economy and society can continue to function.
“It’s a complex formula on which we depend in order to maintain a safe routine,” Gantz said. “It is impossible for it to work only in one direction. It is very important for the public to cooperate with the decisions that are made so that we can truly come up with a balanced, stable, and safe plan of action.”


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