The current situation
On Wednesday of this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a raft of tougher measures against the Coronavirus which came into effect from 5 p.m.on 25th March 2020 for a seven-day period. The. measures include a prohibition on people venturing more than 100 meters from their homes, apart from under certain circumstances, and the closing of synagogues. More about this latest round of restrictions can be read here.
As of this morning, Israel had 3,035 people who had been diagnosed with the virus, with 49 in serious condition.
Three more Israelis have died from the Coronavirus in the past 24 hrs, two overnight and one today, Friday afternoon, bringing the death toll in Israel to 11.
Read more about that here.
Working with its neighbours
In the meantime, Israel is working with its immediate neighbours to stem the spread of the virus.
Earlier this week, President Rivlin met with Egypt’s ambassador to Israel to discuss the two nations’ responses to this invisible enemy. Click here to read more.
Defence Minister Naftali Bennett has also praised the Palestinian Authority for their cooperation with Israel to combat its spread – read here. Indeed, for the first time in many years, Palestinian officials have not been afraid to openly talk about cooperation with Israel, which has included a joint Operations Room, and a recent poll by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion (PCPO) found most Palestinians surveyed support the cooperation between the Palestinian Authority and Israel to prevent the spread of Coronavirus. Let’s hope for a time where most will support peace too.
More on this can be read here, here and here.
And in a stunning display of care for all its citizens, the Israeli Foreign Ministry arranged, with the cooperation of the Jordanian authorities, to bring 200 Israeli Arab students back to the country to self-quarantine.
Read more about that here.
Israeli innovation to combat the Coronavirus
Click here to read about how 10 Innovative Israeli startups and medical initiatives are contributing to the global fight against the 2020 Coronavirus outbreak and its medical challenges.
When medical professionals touted the decades-old anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a possible means of fighting the Coronavirus pandemic, Israeli pharmaceutical giant Teva immediately announced that it will provide 10 million doses of its hydroxychloroquine drug to US hospitals free of charge, with 6 million doses arriving by 31st March.
Click here and/or here to read more.
As for the ongoing enrichment of Britain-Israel collaboration, what could possibly be better than this – two teams, one at the Weizmann Institute for Science in Israel and one at the Diamond Light Source laboratory in Oxfordshire – working together on pioneering a revolutionary method of scientific research that could see a candidate for an anti-coronavirus drug emerge “within weeks”.
Read all about it here.
And here in the UK, the ZF are proud to support the UK Government and its NHS’s #StayAtHomeSaveLives campaign.
Stay safe and well everyone and please lets all continue to work together for the safety of everyone in our country.
