Israel is preparing for up to 2,400 seriously ill COVID patients in hospitals across the country by mid-September, according to a plan released Wednesday by the Prime Minister's Office, and is planning to boost hospital staff to cope with the influx.
The plan was approved when Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with senior health officials Tuesday evening as Israel's infection rate soars at an alarming rate - going from several hundred cases in early June to close to 40,000 by August 11.
According to the plan, Israel anticipates 4,800 hospitalizations for COVID by September 11 and intends to add hundreds of doctors, nurses and other medical professionals in stages as the numbers increase.
The plan was to be brought to the coronavirus cabinet for approval later Wednesday, a day after it was green lit at Bennett's meeting with Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, Health Ministry Director-General Nachman Ash and public health chief Sharon Alroy-Preis.
The first phase of the plan will see 600 additional medical staff immediately provided for hospitals around the country.
The second phase - set to begin in 10 days when there will be an estimated 1,200 COVID hospitalizations with half in serious condition - will see an additional 100 doctors, 500 nurses and 500 paramedical staff provided.
At the end of August, when there will be an estimated 2,400 COVID hospitalizations - with 1,200 in serious condition - there will be a corresponding increase in medical staff. The same step will be taken by September 11, when the number of hospitalized COVID cases in Israel is expected to rise to 4,800 with 2,400 in serious condition.
Bennett was set to present the plan to hospital chiefs in Tel Aviv on Wednesday afternoon.
The head of Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa, Dr. Michael Halberthal, said ahead of the meeting that the proposed additions will give hospitals the ability to cope with the rising demand.
"We've received 2,000 additional medical staff and that is unprecedented," Halberthal said Wednesday. "We have found the prime minister to be attentive and despite the budget having already been finalized, he has made additional funds available for hospital staffing."
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A coronavirus ward in a converted underground car park at Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa
(Photo: Reuters)
Other senior medical professionals warned Wednesday, however, that the additional staff did not go far enough.
Bennett also held a separate meeting Tuesday evening with health officials to discuss further steps to bring down morbidity.
Among the measures agreed upon was implementing the Green Pass - conditioning access to public spaces on proof of vaccination or recovery, or a negative test - to nearly all parts of the economy and expand it to all Israelis over the age of three.
Officials also decided on a recommendation that private events not held under the Green Pass outline be limited to 100 people outdoors and 50 indoors.
Israel will work to double the number of testing facilities.
The measures were also set to be approved by the coronavirus cabinet on Wednesday.