"It is inconceivable that the carriers of the mutation from New York would refuse to cooperate with the epidemiological inquiry," said Halberthal. "In a proper country, care should have been taken to provide the information, and if not, they should be put in jail. They are endangering the public."
The national Coronavirus Knowledge and Information Center continued to warn against the dangers of the coronavirus mutations to the national vaccination campaign on Monday, stressing that the New York variant was continuing to establish a foundation and carried a mutation that has been linked to reinfection of people who have recovered from the virus. The center stressed the need for controlled entry into Israel and a joint effort of testing, quarantine and responsible behavior to lower the risks presented by variants.
So far, four cases of the New York variant have been detected in Israel. Israeli media has reported that a number of people who have arrived in the country and were infected with the virus have refused to be tested for variants.
Halberthal also responded to comments made by Health Ministry Director-General Chezy Levy to Channel 12 on Sunday, in which he claimed that Israel could not have done better in its handling of the coronavirus crisis.
"I think the treatment in the State of Israel was optimal, we maintained one of the highest health standards in the world. The percentage of deaths among patients was like the percentage that we know from among complex patients and serious illnesses," said Levy to Channel 12. "When we see the very serious patients, and how many of them have died, I think it indicates a high standard of care."
"To say that we could not have done anything else is a problematic statement in itself. As someone who was on the ground - the system could certainly have worked better," said Halberthal. "If we were to end a military confrontation with 6,000 dead now, the national atmosphere would have been terrible - we would not be celebrating now. Comparing ourselves to countries with more dead than us is stupid."
On Sunday, Israel passed 6,000 deaths caused by the coronavirus, with 6,011 dead as of Sunday evening. According to Worldometers, Israel has the 55th highest death rate due to the virus in the world, with 653 deaths per one million residents. Israel is ninth in the world in terms of cases per one million residents, with 88,996 cases per one million residents.
Israel's vaccination campaign is showing positive effects, however, with infection rates continuing to drop. The reproduction R number fell to 0.76 on Monday morning, according to the Coronavirus Knowledge and Information Center. The number of patients in serious condition is also gradually falling as well.
Halberthal told Army Radio on Monday that Rambam Health Care Campus was beginning to close its coronavirus ward in the hospital's parking lot. Not one of the patients hospitalized at the hospital had received the second dose of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the director-general.