Outgoing Health Ministry Director: ‘Virus Could Be With Us Until 2022’

Outgoing Health Ministry Director Moshe Bar Siman Tov spoke at the end of his term at the helm of the Health ministry, in the shadow of the coronavirus crisis, saying in a Kan Reshet Bet interview Sunday morning that “the recent increase in the number of infected patients has surprised me. I was expecting a longer calm period.”

Bar Siman Tov said that Israel’s easing of the restrictions was “too much.”

“If we want to be optimistic, then we can see that the rate of increase is slower than it was earlier,” he noted. “I really believe that the curve can be flattened this time without extra closure measures. We need to understand that the coronavirus will continue to accompany us for a long time.”

Having a go at the Israelis’ attitude, Bar Siman Tov said that “studies show that a face mask on one’s chin or the ears does not help, it should be on the nose and mouth.”

Bar Siman Tov said that in his opinion, it is not yet the time to open the skies, and he estimated that “the coronavirus could accompany us to the end of 2022.”