The head of Israel’s first coronavirus ward in Sheba Medical Center slammed the Israeli public for disregarding human lives by failing to adhere to health regulations, Ynet reported.
Dr. Gadi Segal wrote a post on Facebook urging Israeli to start viewing the coronavirus pandemic more seriously.
“I’ve posted the names of the people who have died as a result of the disease,” Segal wrote. “Many of them I knew, some died in my arms,”
“Their blood is on the head of anyone who thinks that his theories, his parnassah, his personal liberty, his freedom of speech, his right to refuse and in general, he himself, is more important than the lives of others. As a human being and a doctor, I’m ashamed of the society I live in.”
“And perhaps this is the main problem – there’s no shame left in the world. Perhaps that’s the cause of all the tragedies we see around us.”
In an interview with Ynet, Segal said that denial of the pandemic and non-adherence to simple health guidelines will bring about a lockdown.
Dr. Segal also noted that “underlying illnesses” are far more common than the public is willing to believe. “In modern Western society, starting at age 50, the proportion of people with ‘underlying illnesses’ is huge. These are not sick people, but functional people who live normal lives but they have diabetes or high blood pressure. There are so many people in the population who have high blood pressure.”
“All that’s necessary is to realize the fact that there’s a very problematic illness here and use a mask and avoid gatherings. There’s a very simple equation here. There’s a pandemic. A lockdown has devastating and damaging results and people don’t want it but instead of adopting steps that will prevent infection, they deny the pandemic. It’s a catastrophe.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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8 Responses
I’m sorry but for the doctor to say people are wrong because their parnassah matters… yes, it does!! Should people lose their entire livelihoods? Their homes? Should their children go hungry? Nobody said there was a clean easy solution but Israeli citizens, Many of which Already live BELOW the poverty line, cannot handle more lockdowns! The previous lockdown has already caused serious devastation. How many suicides will happen? How many divorces? How much more child abuse and domestic abuse? At what point do we say,ENOUGH!! The country , NO country, can keep implementing lockdowns. If you wait for a vaccine, which may or may not arrive in a timely manner, may or may not be safe, which may be refused by many in the population , there will be no economy to save. And even should they implement a monthlong lockdown, should even a FEW cases escape , Israel will be back at square one again. And then what, another lockdown? NY has relatively low rates now not because Of lockdowns but because of high immunity.
At long last! One sane voice!
Dr., We respect your opinion but all you’re doing right now is creating a חילול השם. There are many doctors of renown who disagree with your approach. Plus, there are so many considerations when it comes to health; it isn’t a zero sum game of WuFlu or not. Parnassah is important, and losing it can very quicklly lead to finincial ruin, divorce, depression, and suicide.
What protocols are these doctors following?
Are they telling the public to take Zinc, Vitamin D, Vitamin C, Quercetin?
No!
They just tell everyone to stay home and starve..
The worldwide death tolls due to starvation and malnutrition have doubled and tripled since corona. For reference, Those numbers are not in the thousands but in the MILLIONS.
True they Are probably not Yidden but all lives matter. And the corona lockdowns have taken more lives and caused more suffering than corona ever will. It’s time to end the insanity. People need to focus on their health, on improving their diets and lifestyles – which is really the only action they can do. And people who are most at risk should take their precautions as they must. But for the rest of us, THE SHOW MUST GO ON. Everything is dangerous. We can’t allow the virus to ruin more lives.
Where did the Doctor say he is for Lockdown? he said “denial of the pandemic and non-adherence to simple health guidelines will bring about a lockdown”, “instead of adopting steps that will prevent infection, they deny the pandemic”. All he asked for is “use a mask and avoid gatherings” anyone who refuses these simple steps for any of the reasons he stated is indeed deeply corrupt.
He should be ashamed of the government who ignore their own rules! No masks, they go to big weddings, only the little people who voted these clowns in have to comply.
And let’s not forget the daily, even hourly changes to these protocols so we don’t even know what we have to do! The GOVERNMENT is making us sick… sick of their stupidity, inefficiency and cluelessness as well as their hypocrisy. I bet they won’t be spending Rosh Hashana without their extended family or without sitting “oiber an” in shul. But we will have to do that.
Why do so many commenters see this as all-or-nothing? Dr Segal is not advocating a lockdown. He’s merely promoting basic measures that can and will minimize spread of this terrible disease. As in : wearing a mask and social distancing , especially indoors, and putting an end to these huge weddings that the oilam mistakenly thinks are a sacrosanct Jewish tradition (they are not). With the exception of catererers, photographers, musicians etc, I don’t think these measures will lead to the severe economic deprivation and psychosocial consequences that most of the commenters are whining about.