Coronavirus committee to rule on gyms, pools today

35 people infected in fitness centers since June • Death toll spikes to 362 • Buses to run after 10 p.m.

The Knesset coronavirus committee meeting is expected to once and for all vote on Monday whether to reopen gyms and public pools after a heated debate Sunday and on the backdrop of yet another spike in cases.

Some 1,151 people tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday, the Health Ministry reported Sunday. Another 646 people were diagnosed on Sunday between midnight and press time.

On Saturday, 20,294 people were screened, meaning that the percentage of people who tested positive increased to around 6%, a percentage that Dr. Emilia Ennis, director of the Health Ministry’s Department of Epidemiology, said was “worrisome” during her presentation at the committee meeting.

When comparing early July data to April data, Israel’s most difficult month in the fight against coronavirus so far, the number of patients infected is trending to be higher than the final number in April, she said. However, the discrepancy could be due to the number of tests being done.

On Sunday evening, there were 151 people in serious condition, including 47 who were intubated. Some 362 people have died in Israel from the virus.

Despite the high numbers, buses are expected to resume running past 10 p.m. on Monday, Transportation Minister Miri Regev said Sunday, revoking a decision that went into effect only a few days prior.

“I came here immediately after the government meeting to take a close look at the bus operation, and I see that things are going well… I made a decision: Starting tomorrow, buses will run even after 10 p.m.,” she said in a statement that was disseminated by

video.

At the same time, Interior Minister Arye Deri convinced the cabinet that the Health Ministry should be required to publish its “red zone” criteria ahead of designating any new neighborhoods as such. The move came after pushback from the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community that decisions were made to discriminate against them.

During the Knesset coronavirus committee meeting, it was revealed that some 170 cases of infection originated since June from weddings, 35 from gyms, 21 from restaurants and six from bars.

Ennis, however, said that “in most cases the source of infection is difficult to identify.”

In as many as one-third of cases, the source of infection is unknown, she said. However, a Health Ministry report that came out soon after her presentation indicated that this number was even higher, perhaps 58%.

The Health Ministry showed that from the beginning of the pandemic until July 6 there were 30,162 people infected with coronavirus, but only 21,562 for whom it made efforts to track the origin of their infection. The ministry was unable to determine how 12,581 (58%) of those patients were infected.

Of the 8,981 (42%) they could track, the most common places to contract the virus were: at home (65.8%), educational institutions (10.3%), medical institutions (5.8%), events or conferences (3.95%), synagogues (2.2%), shopping centers or stores (2%) and recreational locations (1.8%). Another 8.2% were not exposed to any of these places but came in contact