July 2020. Israel’s top public health official has quit in protest at the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, as authorities imposed new measures to combat a rise in infections after the country opened its economy. Siegal Sadetzki announced her resignation with a lengthy critique of how the government had “lost its bearings”. “The achievements in dealing with the first wave [of infections] were cancelled out by the broad and swift opening of the economy,” the leading epidemiologist wrote on Facebook. Her announcement came hours after the Israeli parliament approved the closure of bars, clubs and gyms. The number of people allowed at restaurants, in places of worship and on public buses was also reduced. Israel had previously been held up as an example of how to handle the pandemic, imposing a sweeping lockdown in March after an outbreak among tourists visiting the Palestinian city of Bethlehem.
Jul 2020. Coronavirus in Israel
