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Prominent Israelis demand Netanyahu cancel coronavirus lockdown in letter

SEPTEMBER 16, 2020 17:47

A letter before action was addressed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, coronavirus commissioner Prof. Ronni Gamzu and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein by prominent figures, urging them to cancel the decision of imposing a nationwide lockdown, claiming that it's not founded on facts and reliable data.

The signatories include prominent doctors, scientists, academics, lawyers and journalists, who are calling on the government to go back on its decision of imposing a three-week lockdown during the High Holidays.

"We're calling on cabinet members to cancel the planned nationwide lockdown. There's no doubt that coronavirus is a dangerous disease, and we must fight it! But imposing a general lockdown is a collective blow to most of Israel's residents," the letter read.

The letter claims that the major assumptions that led to the decision of imposing a general lockdown, including the scope of the morbidity rates, the number of patients in severe condition, the threat of hospitals collapsing and the mortality rates, are inaccurate and are based on partial data that does not justify the lockdown.

"An independent examination done by experts in the relevant fields of medicine and statistics regarding morbidity and mortality rates caused by the virus, found that there are major gaps between what's being told to the public and the actual scientific data that arises from various studies."

Regarding the threat of hospitals collapsing, the letter claims that the numbers of patients in severe condition are exaggerated, while claiming that there are currently some 450 patients in light condition who are receiving treatment as though they were in severe condition.

The letter continues to attack the notion of a nationwide lockdown as a whole, stating that "it harms basic laws."

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