Likud MK Blasts Gov’t’s Handling of New COVID Outbreak

Former Deputy Health Minister Yoav Kisch (Likud) blasted the new government as “impotent,” saying it wasn’t doing anything to tackle the renewed outbreak of the coronavirus, in an interview with Kan News on Thursday morning.

Noting he was “very concerned,” Kisch told the Kan broadcaster: “They need to stop taking photos and decide.”

“For every day that you don’t do something, you pay a price. When we in the government heard about the British variant, we brought planes back that were in the air,” he said.

“We will do all we can to bring down this bad coalition,” Kisch said.

Following localized outbreaks in Binyamina and Modiin, 39 students at several schools in Kfar Sava were found to be carrying the coronavirus on Wednesday.

Hundreds of students in the city entered quarantine as the Kfar Sava Municipality reinstated mask-wearing requirements in the city’s schools in an effort to prevent further infections.

Eighteen infections were also reported among students in the nearby town of Kochav Yair-Tzur Yigal. There are currently 81 residents in quarantine. Local authorities have ordered all students in the community from first grade through fifth grade to wear masks while in school.

In a statement, Kfar Sava Mayor Rafi Saar said: “Last night, we ordered the city’s education system to return to mask-wearing, both in class and at graduation parties. This order is necessary given the increase in the number of verified patients and is necessary to block the virus. From the very beginning of [our efforts] to contend with the coronavirus, we took steps that kept Kfar Sava a “green” city [in accordance with the Health Ministry’s traffic-light system for ranking localities according to infection rates], and we will continue to do that now. Kfar Sava managed the coronavirus in a conservative and aggressive way that proved itself and now too, we will continue to manage the situation responsibly.”

Health Ministry Director General Chezy Levi, Coronavirus Commissioner Nachman Ash, and the head of Public Health Services at the Health Ministry Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis were set to hold a press conference on the uptick in infections over the last 24 hours on Thursday night.