Following the WHO’s lead, health officials in Tel Aviv on Thursday afternoon announced Israel was raising the pandemic alert level from 4 to 5, realizing that while the number of serious cases around the world is extremely small, there does not seem to be any slowdown in the spread of the potentially fatal illness.
 
The Health Ministry added it will be purchasing enough pharmaceuticals to treat 30% of the population in the event of the continued spread of the illness chas v’sholom.
 
Regarding Israelis arriving on Thursday from Mexico, a physician and other health officials will inspect the passengers in Ben-Gurion International Airport. They are being asked to voluntarily remain home for a one-week period, to avoid mingling in populated areas. Other countries, such as S. Korea, have positioned thermal cameras to inspect all arrival passengers for any sign of fever.
 
Two people suspected of having been infected are being checked and treated in according to protocol. A 75-year-old female recently returned from Mexico and is in isolation in Laniado Hospital in Netanya. The signs of flu became apparent four days following her return. A 9-year-old girl is in isolation in Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba. She too is exhibiting flu signs and symptoms.
 
Unwilling to take chances, the ministry is also assigning physicians at all of the nation’s border crossings to check anyone entering who may be suspicious, primarily travelers arriving from areas with the infection. The Foreign Ministry is now expected to release a travel advisory for Mexico, a move it avoided until now, but with the WHO move to raise the pandemic level, it is prompting a serious response among Israeli officials.
 
Officials will be meeting daily to assess the situation, and a hotline number has been set up by the Health Ministry, manned from 07:00-19:00. The number are 972-3-6951541, or *3090.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)