How is Coronavirus in Israel shaping up? Rather, how is Israel shaping up or gearing up to prepare for the deadly outbreak of the virus that has already troubled the better part of the world?
Surely, it pays to know that there are as many as 100 countries that have been impacted by the novel Covid-19 already. And with every passing second, the susceptible state of the world already raises more questions and worries; what next!?
This is a one of a kind situation, isn’t it? Surely, the world has seen troubled times in the past as well, where all thanks to serious medical anomalies, like SARS, Bird Flu and other concerns, the world has been gripped by tensions that seem backbreaking.
But with Coronavirus, the situation seems different and lest it is forgotten or subdued, more troublesome than expected.
What began from the famous Wuhan district in China and spread quickly to far-off destinations like South Korea and Iran, has now claimed lives everywhere in Finland, Italy, India, and elsewhere.
Now, there’s Coronavirus in Israel and guess what, the Jewish state is already taking tough measures to counter the growing menace.
So how exactly is the situation in one of the most enervating albeit captivating parts of the Middle East?
The country’s Health Ministry has responded and shared the following in a detailed media statement issued just a few hours back:
“We may ask people to leave the house less, and only for necessary errands. The government is considering a general closure on all citizens, and if that happens it would mean all age groups will be asked to stay home until further notice,” the ministry’s deputy director-general, Itamar Grotto, said Monday.”
Furthermore, this is what is known in the public domain:
Planning greater oversight for the population over 70, which is at risk. We’re preparing now for hospitals to be able to hold the corona patients who will need treatment, and most of the less urgent patients will be in home hospitalization, unless they cannot be hospitalized at home for socioeconomic or family reasons.
That being said, it is important to note that much of everyone’s efforts are dedicated to curbing the situation or as to how one might put it; to slow the spread of the virus.
A country that has made tremendous progress and advances in multiple and groundbreaking disciplines such as engineering, IT, defence production, programming and whatnot, Coronavirus in Israel has prompted the country to take a spurt of actions on the ground level.
One of the first steps was the obvious and easily conceivable ideas; shut shopping malls, schools, colleges, restaurants and other areas that generate mass public gatherings.
But that’s not all. The massively interesting measure the country has taken to counter Coronavirus is the rapid speed at which the common Israelite has been attended to during these times marked by severity and unpredictability:
For a country of very tiny population, it hasn’t taken long for the Benjamin Netanyahu-led nation to put no fewer than 50,000 individuals under quarantine.
And here’s a piece of development that is bound to startle many:
In a bid to track patients or possible candidates who might have contracted the virus, the internal security agency of the country- the Shin Bet- has been given a go-ahead by the Prime Minister to tap into a previously undisclosed trove of cellphone data.
This seemingly curious move that to many may seem a hindrance to one’s individual privacy is an important step actually. Wondering why?
It can retrace the movements of people who might have got the virus and can also help track those individuals who are likely to cross paths with those who have already been infected.
Brilliant, right?