Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) on Wednesday told police and security organizations to prepare to implement a government decision to apply a full lockdown.
According to Erdan, such a decision may be made in the coming days.
"The decision to implement a full lockdown is a very difficult decision, but in the situation which has been created, it is unavoidable, and it is preferable to take difficult steps for a short time in order to beat the coronavirus in the shortest time possible, and prevent deaths," he said.
Under a lockdown, only essential workers will be allowed to leave their homes, and other citizens will be allowed to leave only to purchase supplies or receive medical treatment. Police will be responsible for enforcing the lockdown, while the Home Front Command will provide civilians with the necessary supplies.
Professor Gabi Barbash, who previously served as the director of Tel Aviv's Sourasky Medical Center and the Director-General of the Health Ministry, spoke Wednesday morning with 103 FM Radio about the spread of the coronavirus in Israel, emphasizing the importance of following the guidelines.
"No country in the world has managed to control this, other than with quarantine," he noted. "The number of patients recovering bothers me less. What troubles me is the number of people testing positive."
"This (the numbers - ed.) will grow in a geometric fashion. If today we have 300 and something patients, in three more days we'll have 600, and three days after that we'll have 1,200."
