Israel's top coronavirus health official, Prof. Nachman Ash warned on Monday that opening the Israeli economy would increase COVID-19 morbidity despite the encouraging figures from recent days.
"There are over 5,000 daily cases and about a thousand serious cases. If someone had said two months ago that in today's situation we would open the economy, I would say they are crazy," Ash said.
"We're opening up because we see the importance. The numbers are improving, but as the economy opens up, they will go back up and that would be awful. An irresponsible opening will lead to another lockdown. Is it good for the economy or education? Next week, we will reach three million vaccinated, but that is only a third [of Israel's population]. This is far off herd immunity."