After several weeks of foot-dragging, Prof. Gabi Barbash has been appointed to head the Israeli government's task force to combat Covid-19. He is the former CEO of Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv and a former director general in the Ministry of Health. Barbash is a professor of epidemiology and preventive medicine.
It is still unclear what exactly will be the powers of the new position but several people have already declined the job including Major General Roni Numa (res.) who said that he was not being given enough powers.
Barbash recently told KAN Channel 11, "With today's data I think that everybody wanting to look after themselves should not go out very much or move around very much because there are a lot of people around that can infect them. When the concern from above is not organized properly then let us worry about ourselves in the way that we should.
He added, "I don't think that we should close the beaches. When you are out in the open air, you don't need to make restrictions. The price of restricting the beach against the risk of being infected doesn't justify it. The local authorities have to operate inspectors to prevent crowding."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on July 21, 2020
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