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As Israel Eases Coronavirus Restrictions, What Could Our âNew Normalâ Look Like?
The Israeli government approved a series of new directives this week meant to roll back restrictions put in place in mid-March to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a televised statement Saturday night praising the accomplishments of the country and its citizens in stabilizing the mortality rate of COVID-19, which he described as among the lowest in the OECD.
The steps Israel has taken â closing its borders to non-residents, implementing mandatory quarantines, banning public gatherings, limiting pubic transport, undertaking contact tracing, and ramping up diagnostic tests â âhave proven themselves in slowing the rate of infection and in stabilizing the numbers of seriously ill patients and those on ventilators,â said Netanyahu.
Israel currently has close to 14,000 confirmed patients with coronavirus, 139 of which are in serious condition with 113 requiring mechanical ventilation. Israelâs death toll from the disease has climbed to 184 as of April 21, according to Health Ministry figures.
Taub report on Israelâs coronavirus mortality rate
Starting on Sunday, restrictions were eased slightly in both the personal and public spheres but social distancing, mask-wearing, and bans on gatherings are enforced, and other major limitations remain in place. Some industries may resume operations but school is still out. Additional rollbacks may be implemented in the coming weeks depending on the success of the pilot plan, but officials in Israel and the world have urged that we should all prepare for a changed reality and, possibly, a resurgence of the pathogen. The head of the World Health Organization has warned that the âworst is yet to come.â
âUntil a coronavirus vaccine is found, we are in a different reality. The entire world has changed. We simply need to live in a corona[virus] routine,â Netanyahu said on Saturday.
The stresses of the pandemic
What could this different reality look like? Dr. Anthony Fauci, the American physician and immunologist who has served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIH) at the Department of Health and Human Services, has suggested that we may never shake hands again, for example. But everything has been affected. From how we travel (or donât), work, parent, educate, date, socialize, connect with family, manage stress, and exercise â the coronavirus has turned our world upside down over the course of the past three months.
This period âwhere we shut down the world â and the possibility of it happening again â will be carved into our memories and our consciousness,â says Professor Golan Shahar of Ben-Gurion Universityâs Department of Psychology, head of The Stress, Self & Health (STREALTH) Lab, and a clinical health psychologist.
âThe world has changed and on a behavioral level we are all changed as well,â he tells NoCamels. âWe are all spending more time at home, working from home, parenting from home, so family dynamics are changing.â This period will have strengthened bonds for some people and some families âas theyâve had to discover each other, get to know each other and become closer,â says Dr. Shahar.
Full story:
The Israeli government approved a series of new directives this week meant to roll back restrictions put in place in mid-March to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a televised statement Saturday night praising the accomplishments of the country and its citizens in stabilizing the mortality rate of COVID-19, which he described as among the lowest in the OECD.
The steps Israel has taken â closing its borders to non-residents, implementing mandatory quarantines, banning public gatherings, limiting pubic transport, undertaking contact tracing, and ramping up diagnostic tests â âhave proven themselves in slowing the rate of infection and in stabilizing the numbers of seriously ill patients and those on ventilators,â said Netanyahu.
Israel currently has close to 14,000 confirmed patients with coronavirus, 139 of which are in serious condition with 113 requiring mechanical ventilation. Israelâs death toll from the disease has climbed to 184 as of April 21, according to Health Ministry figures.
Taub report on Israelâs coronavirus mortality rate
Starting on Sunday, restrictions were eased slightly in both the personal and public spheres but social distancing, mask-wearing, and bans on gatherings are enforced, and other major limitations remain in place. Some industries may resume operations but school is still out. Additional rollbacks may be implemented in the coming weeks depending on the success of the pilot plan, but officials in Israel and the world have urged that we should all prepare for a changed reality and, possibly, a resurgence of the pathogen. The head of the World Health Organization has warned that the âworst is yet to come.â
âUntil a coronavirus vaccine is found, we are in a different reality. The entire world has changed. We simply need to live in a corona[virus] routine,â Netanyahu said on Saturday.
The stresses of the pandemic
What could this different reality look like? Dr. Anthony Fauci, the American physician and immunologist who has served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIH) at the Department of Health and Human Services, has suggested that we may never shake hands again, for example. But everything has been affected. From how we travel (or donât), work, parent, educate, date, socialize, connect with family, manage stress, and exercise â the coronavirus has turned our world upside down over the course of the past three months.
This period âwhere we shut down the world â and the possibility of it happening again â will be carved into our memories and our consciousness,â says Professor Golan Shahar of Ben-Gurion Universityâs Department of Psychology, head of The Stress, Self & Health (STREALTH) Lab, and a clinical health psychologist.
âThe world has changed and on a behavioral level we are all changed as well,â he tells NoCamels. âWe are all spending more time at home, working from home, parenting from home, so family dynamics are changing.â This period will have strengthened bonds for some people and some families âas theyâve had to discover each other, get to know each other and become closer,â says Dr. Shahar.
Full story:
As Israel Eases Coronavirus Restrictions, What Could Our 'New Normal' Look Like?
Officials in Israel and across the world over have urged that we should prepare for a changed reality post-pandemic.
nocamels.com