Health Officials: Current Lockdown Not Enough

Israel’s third nationwide lockdown, which went into effect on Sunday evening, is not working well, health officials were saying on Wednesday.

Health Minister Yuli Edelstein called it a swiss cheese,” full of holes, with many individuals and businesses failing to comply with new restrictions on commerce and movement, and most of the school system holding in-person classes.

“This situation worries us very much,” he said, and intimating that some non-Likud members in the government coalition were resisting tighter restrictions, according to The Times of Israel.

Coronavirus commissioner Prof. Nachman Ash warned local council heads during a meeting on Wednesday that the lockdown as it is under “a question mark.”

He said that further restrictions would probably be necessary, citing the 20% reduction of people traveling within the country compared to an average of 60% reduction in the previous two lockdowns.

However, he held out hope that the situation will improve sufficiently to allow public events to be held in time for Independence Day in mid-April. “Masks could come off when we reach a 70%-80% rate of vaccinated people,” he said.