There are 16,621 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Israel as of Monday, a number that for the first time stayed the same overnight, which means that no new cases of the coronavirus were reported since Sunday night.
As no new fatalities were reported overnight either, the death toll of 272 remains the same.
A total of 13,014 patients have recovered from the virus, leaving only 3,335 active cases.
About 75% of the Israeli student body showed up in their classrooms on Sunday, as a full resumption of school began. The highest attendance rate was in the Jerusalem District – 89%, and the lowest attendance rate was in the Haifa District – 67% and in the city of Jerusalem – 65%.
The Health Ministry denied reports on Monday that an agreement has been reached about re-opening shuls, stating that an outline for re-opening shuls will only be considered in the next few days.
According to a news report on Sunday, an agreement was reached between the economy and health ministries that will likely lead to restaurants being allowed to re-open before Shavuos, which falls out on Thursday night next week.
When restrictions are lifted on restaurants and cafés, the same restrictions will also reportedly be lifted from hotels.
During regular times, Israelis spend about NIS 20 billion ($5.7 billion) a year on restaurants and cafés.
Magen David Adom is celebrating its 53rd year of service this week:
This coming week, #Israel will celebrate 53 years of unifying our beloved capital.
MDA is proud to be Israel's national #EMS org & to be shouldering the responsibility of keeping Israelis safe during this difficult time.Thank you to the city of #Jerusalem recognizing our work. pic.twitter.com/icf8fDzGFd
— Magen David Adom (@Mdais) May 18, 2020
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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Baruch Hashem!
Israel’s death rate is about 5 per 1000 (much lower than the USA, probably due to have a higher birth rate and a younger population, as old people tend to die at a higher rate than the rest of the population), so over the last three months, under normal conditions, one would expect roughly 10,000 Israelis to have died. Seen in this context, the number of people dying of Covid19 seems trivial suggesting the there has been a serious over-reaction and unneeded panic.
BTW, using the same methodology for the USA, one would normally expect a quarter-million people to have died over the last three-months. Historic plagues resulted in massive increases in the death rate/ Even the “Spanish flu” of 1918 killed half a percent of Americans (in modern terms, that would be well over 2 million). Smallpox and Bubonic plague were much deadlier. These number support those who question whether the massive lockdowns were needed.