https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇮🇱" title="Flagge von Israel" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von Israel"> At the start of the #coronavirus pandemic, #Israel was seen as a beacon of how to contain it with a stick lockdown. It worked.
But did it just delay the inevitable?
According to @JohnsHopkins research, https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇮🇱" title="Flagge von Israel" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von Israel"> now has the *highest infection rate per capita in the world*. [thread]

The gov appointed corona commissioner said recently: “The state of sickness in https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇮🇱" title="Flagge von Israel" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von Israel"> is among worst & most complicated in the world.”
The combination of different cultures + particular desire within some Jewish & Muslim societies for mass gatherings has contributed to situation.

About half of the cases in Israel (I am not including the West Bank & Gaza in this analysis - they require a separate one) are among the Arab community and the Haredi Jews (ultra-orthodox).

Here’s the chart for https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇮🇱" title="Flagge von Israel" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von Israel">.
In early August, the commissioner Ronni Gamzu said that if cases weren’t down to the hundreds by September a lockdown would be inevitable.
A couple of days ago the cases were at 3206 daily infections. That’s for a country with a population of about 8.5m

This coming week a series of cities designated ‘red cities’ will probably be locked down.
Within those cities:
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="📍" title="Runde Reißzwecke" aria-label="Emoji: Runde Reißzwecke">entry and exit prohibited
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="📍" title="Runde Reißzwecke" aria-label="Emoji: Runde Reißzwecke">residents restricted to 500 meters of homes
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="📍" title="Runde Reißzwecke" aria-label="Emoji: Runde Reißzwecke"> public transport shut
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="📍" title="Runde Reißzwecke" aria-label="Emoji: Runde Reißzwecke">closing non-essential businesses & all schools

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇮🇱" title="Flagge von Israel" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von Israel"> But politics and religion are complicating things because most of the red cities are either in ultra-orthodox Jewish cities or Arab cities.
Ultra-orthodox ministers in the coalition are resisting...

Yaakov Litzman, an ultra-orthodox minister told Gamzu: “You want a lockdown during the high holidays because you don’t want people praying... we will not let this happen.”

The importance of being able to attend synagogues at hugely significant religious festivals trumps health.

Ronni Gamzu said: “This is a message to all of Israel: No weddings! No mass gatherings! No dismissal [of guidelines] at any restaurant or anywhere! I’m sorry to be emotional. This is a pivotal moment … all of Israel is at war....”

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇮🇱" title="Flagge von Israel" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von Israel"> Gamzu added: “Illness numbers that climb from 2,000 to 3,000 in one day should worry us all. Anyone who doesn’t put on a mask and who disregards [instructions] is spitting in the face of doctors and nurses who are working 24 hours a day at coronavirus wards.”

The positive news in Israel is that the death rate remains stable and hospitals are not yet overwhelmed.

In #Gaza the situation is wholly different and very very worrring.
Exponential growth in cases as these two charts show 2/9 & 5/9. [Thread to follow on Gaza]