Coronavirus czar's team members threaten to quit over haredi schools

The health minister threatened to de-fund schools that opened against regulations.

By HANNAH BROWN
A girl hugs her mother before entering her elementary school in Sderot as it reopens following the ease of restrictions preventing the spread of the coronavirus disease. (photo credit: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN)
A girl hugs her mother before entering her elementary school in Sderot as it reopens following the ease of restrictions preventing the spread of the coronavirus disease.
(photo credit: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN)
As preschools reopened Sunday in the first major loosening of the coronavirus lockdown regulations, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein cautioned the public not to let down their guard in terms of obeying the regulations that still exist, warning of strict penalties for those who do not follow regulations.
In Edelstein’s speech at Ariel University, he admonished those not obeying the rules – specifically schools in the ultra-Orthodox “red” cities that reopened illegally – saying they would be dealt with harshly. If the regulations were not followed exactly as they should be, he said, it would send the entire country back to a sweeping lockdown.
Edelstein threatened to revoke the licenses and slash the budgets of those yeshivot that opened against the rules and that “they should not complain later that the state is abusing them.
“I call on all parents, and even more so if they are MKs and elected officials: Do not send your children to educational institutions that operate in violation of the law,” Edelstein added. “This should be clear to all of us.”
He also said that, “if regulations are not followed and morbidity rises, these [red] cities will stay in lockdown… It’s important to remember that the lockdown is not a punishment, but a way of bringing down the infection rate.”
He pleaded with the public to obey rules to the letter of the law, even when there was no law enforcement nearby.
Also on Sunday, Channel 12 reported that the coronavirus czar, Prof. Ronni Gamzu, was fighting to keep specialists on his staff from resigning due to pressures and their feeling that their recommendations are not taken seriously enough. Gamzu wanted to meet with the coronavirus cabinet to convene as early as possible to try to crack down on the opening of schools in the ultra-Orthodox sector in defiance of the regulations.  
Gamzu had asked to raise fines on holding large gatherings ten-fold, but there is a bureaucratic fight over how larger fines should be enforced, so the fines have not been raised yet.
In one piece of positive news, Sheba Medical Center announced that it is testing a treatment that lessons the symptoms of the virus when it is given to patients in the early stages. Prof. Gaila Rahav said that she was optimistic about the trials.
On Saturday, just 398 people tested positive for the virus, out of 14,990 tests that were done – only 2.6%.  As of October 18, according to the Health Ministry, 669 patients were in serious condition and 234 were on ventilators.  Since the beginning of the pandemic, 2,209 have died in Israel.