Rivlin asks Litzman to allow family visits at disability hostels
The president explained that he is concerned that there may be severe psychological implications due to the coronavirus restrictions.
By TAMAR URIEL-BEERIIsraeli President Reuven Rivlin talks during a press conference at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus February 12, 2019.(photo credit: YIANNIS KOURTOGLOU/REUTERS)
President Reuven Rivlin asked outgoing Health Minister Ya'acov Litzman on Sunday morning that he allow familial visits at mental and physical disability living centers, called "hostels," amid the coronavirus crisis."I ask you to take into account the genuine crisis that may be created among those with disabilities who are cut off from their families, and the psychological and physical differences between those living in hostels and homes," Rivlin wrote in a letter to the health minister.The president explained that he is concerned that there may be severe psychological implications due to the coronavirus restrictions, as some people living in such hostels may be at greater risk from the social distancing and isolation than they would be, as a risk group, of catching the novel virus."As we are all experiencing personally at this time, the implications of the health crisis touch us all and are not limited to the physical impact but have harmful social and mental effects because of the important and life-saving necessity of social distancing," he explained. "The psychological difficulty of being distant from those dearest to us becomes a genuine burden for young people and adults with a range of physical and mental disabilities who are not always able to grasp the new situation in which we find ourselves."The confusion and anxiety we naturally feel are amplified many times over for those who cannot completely understand the situation, and who desperately need human contact and the real presence of their relations and families to relax and to get back their sense of safety," Rivlin concluded.
