COVID-19 in Israel: Coronavirus law limits govt power over restrictions - The Jerusalem Post

A new law that will see the government's ability to implement COVID-19 restrictions was approved by the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee on Monday evening and will be brought forward to the Knesset plenum for a vote by the end of the day.

The law will see the restoration of parliamentary oversight into the government’s decisions on COVID-19, and places limits on their ability to introduce new pandemic related restrictions.

Whereas currently the entire pandemic is classified as a state of emergency in Israel, the new law will see a differentiation between an active coronavirus wave and the time in between waves when cases are still being registered but at a much lower rate.

The new law, which will come into effect from February 1, will consider the time between COVID-19 waves to be a “special health situation,” and only the waves themselves will be considered to be a state of emergency.

Therefore, should a government body wish to introduce new restrictions, or remove or change preexisting ones during a special health situation, the usual laws will apply, during which regulations can only be entered into effect with prior parliamentary approval, and they must be submitted to the committee at least five days before coming into effect.

During a state of emergency, however, regulations can be entered into effect without prior committee approval which instead can be given in retrospect. However, the period of time granted to the committee to discuss the regulations before approving or rejecting them will be increased from 24 to 48 hours.

For the first time since the introduction of the Green Pass in February 2021, the regulations regarding the pass will now be enshrined in law, holding public places, workplaces, private events, educational institutions and more legally accountable for properly following Green Pass requirements as stated.

The enshrinement of the Green Pass will also regulate the government’s discretion regarding the pass and will restrict it from being applied to places selling or providing essential products and services.

Furthermore, the law agreed upon by the committee would revoke the government’s authority to declare a “special state of emergency” during which demonstrations and protests are restricted or banned.

Committee chairman MK Gilad Kariv welcomed the approval of the new coronavirus law by the committee, saying the changes made to the law “reflect the need to ensure the routine of life and the democratic resilience of Israeli society during the fight against the pandemic.”

A total of 83,088 cases of COVID-19 were detected in Israel on Sunday, the highest number reported to date, Health Ministry data showed on Monday afternoon. The number of serious patients stood at 814, with 166 people intubated.

Of the current serious cases in Israel, 259 are unvaccinated, 100 are partially vaccinated and 429 are fully vaccinated. The majority of serious cases have been recorded in people over the age of 60, and only 150 people under the age of 60 are currently considered to be serious cases.

Of the 357,740 tests taken on Sunday, there was a positive return rate of 23.23%, and the number of active cases currently in Israel stands at 531,430. Overall, 2.38 million people have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.

The death rate in Israel stands at 8,458, with an additional 110 tests recorded over the last week, a roughly 80% increase from a week prior.

The number of Israelis currently in isolation continues to put a burden on both the health system and other services such as public transportation. Of the 191,861 Israelis currently self-isolating, 8,340 belong to the health sector. Meanwhile, bus and train services continue to experience delays and changes to their schedules due to worker shortages.

Joining the ranks of politicians to be infected with the virus of the last few weeks were Tourism Minister Yoel Razvozov and Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister’s Office Abir Kara. Both have reported that they feel well and are currently not experiencing any symptoms.

Coalition MKs Idit Silman (Yamina), Mazen Ghnaim (Ra'am) and Mansour Abbas (Ra’am) also reported that they had tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday morning, and later in the day were joined by MK Boaz Toporovsky (Yesh Atid) and Deputy Education Minister MK Meir Yitzhak Halevi, who said that he felt well and attributed his mild symptoms to the success of the vaccine.

source: https://m.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/coronavirus/article-694378

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