Living with COVID-19: Israel changes strategy as Delta variant hits

After a rapid vaccination drive that had driven down coronavirus infections and deaths, Israelis had stopped wearing face masks and abandoned all social-distancing rules.

Living with COVID-19: Israel changes strategy as Delta variant hits

Then came the more infectious Delta variant, and a surge in cases that has forced Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to reimpose some COVID-19 restrictions and rethink strategy.

Under what he calls a policy of "soft suppression", the government wants Israelis to learn to live with the virus - involving the fewest possible restrictions and avoiding a fourth national lockdown that could do further harm to the economy.

As most Israelis in risk groups have now been vaccinated against COVID-19, Bennett is counting on fewer people than before falling seriously ill when infections rise.

"Implementing the strategy will entail taking certain risks but in the overall consideration, including economic factors, this is the necessary balance," Bennett said last week.

The main indicator guiding the move is the number of severe COVID-19 cases in hospital, currently around 45. Implementation will entail monitoring infections, encouraging vaccinations, rapid testing and information campaigns about face masks.

The strategy has drawn comparisons with the British government's plans to reopen England's economy from lockdown, though Israel is in the process of reinstating some curbs while London is lifting restrictions.

The curbs that have been reinstated include the mandatory wearing of face masks indoors and quarantine for all people arriving in Israel.

Bennett's strategy, like that of the British government, has been questioned by some scientists.

Israel's Health Ministry advocates more of a push for stemming infections, Sharon Alroy-Preis, head of public health at Israel's Health Ministry, told Kan Radio on Sunday.

"It's possible that there won't be a big rise in the severely ill but the price of making such a mistake is what's worrying us," she said.

But many other scientists are supportive.

"I am very much in favour of Israel's approach," said Nadav Davidovitch, director of the school of public health at Israel's Ben Gurion University, describing it as a "golden path" between Britain's easing of restrictions and countries such as Australia that take a tougher line.