The number of people with coronavirus in Israel continues to climb on the first day that a series of new restrictions to stop its spread are in place. As of Thursday morning, 2,495 people have been diagnosed with the virus - 41 in serious condition.
"We are in a situation where the number of sick is doubling every three days," said Health Ministry Director General Moshe Bar Siman Tov on Thursday at the start of the first Knesset Coronavirus Committee meeting, reiterating a similar messages delivered the previous evening by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He estimated that within a week the country will have about 200 severely ill patients, noting that Israel understood that the coronavirus existed on January 20.
"This is serious - a matter of days; I don't like the word lockdown, but we are close to a full closure," Bar Siman Tov said. "This event is a tsunami that could not have been prepared for."
The Health Ministry reported that the majority of Israelis have mild cases of the virus: 2,315.
The new number of cases represents a spike of 495 people between 7 a.m. Wednesday and 7 a.m. on Thursday.
Last night, Netanyahu warned that Israel will have no choice but to implement a full closure even within the next few days unless there is an immediate improvement in the trend of the number of people infected with coronavirus.
"The steps that we have taken here in Israel are being taken all over the world; however, they are not enough because the number of patients is doubling every three days,” the prime minister said. “In two weeks we are liable to find ourselves with thousands of patients many of whom will be in danger of death.
“Therefore, I am already telling you,” he continued, “that if we do not see an immediate improvement in the trend, there will be no alternative but to impose a complete lockdown, except for essential needs such as food and medicines. This is a matter of a few days. We are making all of the requisite preparations – logistical and legal."
Specifically, Bar Siman Tov said that there are 26,000 beds in geriatric centers that are at the greatest risk.
"We are trying to bring the Home Front Command into these institutions," he said. "We requested assistance from the Ministry of Defense."
Israel has increased the number of people it is testing for the virus, which is likely directly tied to the increase in cases. For the last two days, around 6% of those screened for COVID-19 have tested positive. Bar Siman Tov said, "We will do as many tests as necessary."
The Knesset Coronavirus Committee reviewed a new report Thursday by the Knesset Research and Information Center that showed first time that in Israel there are only 1,437 available respirators. However, Bar Siman Tov explained that there are actually many more:
"We have in stock about 1,500 usable and available respirators," he said. "There are another 70 respirators in the private system that we will use, as well. We currently have 2,864 machines above those used, assuming they are all in working order."
He added that the country is also trying to establish production of ventilators in Israel with the goal of reaching as many as 3,000.
Although Bar Siman Tov noted that Israel was aware of coronavirus from January 20, as of March 26 there has been no increase in the number ventilators in the country.
In order to ensure that the health system will be able to handle the number of sick patients. Bar Siman Tov said the aim is to "flatten the curve," to prevent a sharp peak of cases but rather spread out the infection over a longer period of time.
He said that, "We want to take hard steps now to allow us some degree of freedom after Passover to try to free the economy a little in a managed and controlled way... We especially want to reduce the number of patients who are suffering and conquer the illness significantly.
"We are very scared of what will happen on Passover and Ramadan when people come out and meet each other, this is the most dangerous thing there is," he continued. "The next two weeks are critical for our success against the disease."