The Health Ministry has delivered a list of demands to meet the urgent needs of the medical system.
In a letter to the head of the Nations Security Council (NSC) Meir Ben Shabbat, Director-General Moshe Bar-Siman-Tov articulated what he described as necessary steps that must be taken in anticipation of a resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Medics in protective gear against coronavirus with a patient at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv
( Photo: Zlila Helman)
The letter highlights a shortage of equipment, hospital beds, manpower, and medication.
We must be prepared for the next wave of contagion and must use this time to prepare as well as we can," Bar-Siman-Tov wrote.
According to the DG, the Israeli health system is in urgent need of an additional 2,000 hospital beds estimated to cost two billion NIS, and an increase of 3,500 positions for doctors, nurses, and support staff inside hospitals.
The ministry estimates the virus will continue to infect Israelis at least until the end of 2021.
According to the senior health official, the Finance Ministry has failed to fund an addition of 1,000 members of staff despite existing the government's earlier approval, and warns of a severe shortage of medication, primarily for ICU's needed to replenish depleted stockpiles, at an estimated cost of 1.5 billion NIS. He has also requested an additional 100 million NIS for private hospitals.
Professor Hagai Levine who heads the Association of Public Health Physicians said he was pleased that a list of demands had been submitted but the needs of hospitals are for the additional funding immediately.
"The coronavirus can resurge in July, or anytime before next winger, what is the plan to address public health?" he asked.
Dr. Zeev Feldman, Chairman of the Medical Association said Israel must see to it that no patient is without proper hospitalization, "We cannot have patients in the corridors. We need sufficient staff to provide medical care and must reduce waiting time in the emergency rooms," he said adding that an immediate budget increase is needed.
Israel will carry out 100,000 tests for coronavirus anti-bodies in the coming weeks. In an interview in the New York Times, Bar-Siman-Tov said the Ministry of Health hopes to understand how extensive the exposure of Israelis to the virus has been.
There has been a decline in the number of new cases which is now under 1% daily. The official number of fatalities as a result of COVID-19 is 238.
First published: 10:27, 05.06.20