Nearly 3% of all people tested are positive for coronavirus

Weizmann scientist: ‘We will reach thousands of new infections per day in three weeks’

By MAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMAN
Israeli army Technicians carry out a diagnostic test for coronavirus in a IDF lab in central Israel on July 15, 2020. (photo credit: YOSSI ZELIGER/FLASH90)
Israeli army Technicians carry out a diagnostic test for coronavirus in a IDF lab in central Israel on July 15, 2020.
(photo credit: YOSSI ZELIGER/FLASH90)
The infection rate is on the rise and if the government and the public do not do something to stop it, the country will be in a third lockdown as early as Hanukkah, a top scientist warned Monday.
“If the cases of infection are not handled, we will reach thousands of new infections within three weeks,” Prof. Eran Segal, a computational biology professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science, told Ynet on Monday. “There is not much time left to act. At the moment, there are a number of cases that can be managed.”
He said all the indices are on the rise. The number of new cases increased last week by 7%.
“Closure is not inevitable, but it is a possibility that exists... and we are moving in that direction,” he told Ynet.
The Health Ministry reported 1,018 new cases on Monday morning – 2.6% of those screened the day before. The death toll hit 2,864.
(picture credit: Maayan Hoffman)
(picture credit: Maayan Hoffman)
The Health Ministry is expected to discuss additional restrictions ahead of the holiday season next month, which could include tightening the guidelines – including a ban on travel between cities – during Hanukkah and Christmas.
Nonetheless, schools are expected to continue to operate, including returning students in middle school to their classrooms on Sunday.
The coronavirus cabinet met late Monday night to approve changing the outline for shopping malls, reducing the number of shoppers allowed in each mall and store from one person for every 7 sq.m. to one for every 15.
A pilot program that launched Friday at 15 malls led to mass gathering and pictures of overcrowded shops and lines of shoppers packed together waiting to enter the facilities.
Looking at the key milestones, daily infection has continued to increase as the country opens more.
(picture credit: Maayan Hoffman)
(picture credit: Maayan Hoffman)
The key milestone dates are: October 18: opening preschools and grades one and two; November 1: opening grades one through four; November 8: street shops open; November 17: Strip malls open; November 24: students in fifth and sixth grades return to school; November 29: students in grades 10 through 12 return to school.
The average number of new cases per week since November 1 has risen from 655 the week of November 1 through 7 to 907 the week of November 22 through 28.
There are currently 14 red cities and nearly double the number of orange cities.
The top 10 cities with the highest amount of infection are: Jerusalem, Nazareth, Haifa, Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Umm el-Fahm, Rahat, Shfaram, Holon, Beersheba and Majd el-Kurum. However, all the red cities are Arab or Druze cities.