Arab towns cut infections with wedding ban, closure
The current lockdown brought a significant decrease in the number of coronavirus cases among Arab Israelis, Ayam Saif, coronavirus project coordinator for Israel’s Arab Sector, said on Tuesday.
Saif expressed fear, however, that lifting the lockdown and the return of weddings and other public gatherings could cause a resurgence in the number of infections, unless Arab Israelis kept to the rules.
“The government decision to impose a lockdown had a positive effect on the Arab sector, notably the ban on weddings,” he said. “We had a lot of weddings before the lockdown. The weddings were the major reason for the increase in the morbidity rate in the Arab sector. Now there are almost no weddings in Arab towns and villages.”
The opening of testing stations in Arab communities, including east Jerusalem, was another reason behind the drop in the number of cases in the Arab sector, Saif said.
“We did our best to spread drive- in testing stations in a variety of towns in the Arab sector and we worked very hard to encourage people to do the tests,” he said.
“In east Jerusalem, we opened two permanent stations, one in Sheikh Jarrah and another in Jebl Mukaber. We managed to increase the number of tests in the city.
“Today, we are talking about 200 new cases in the Arab sector out of more than 3,000 new cases in the whole country, which is about 10.7% of the total morbidity. Last month, by comparison, the number of new cases in the Arab sector reached its peak, with about 990 people who were diagnosed. We were over 30% of the new cases of infection in Israel.”
According to Saif, the third reason for the decrease in the
Arab sector is improved cooperation between the Health Ministry and community heads, especially mayors and religious leaders.
“The mayors and religious leaders played a significant role,” he added. “They shut down the mosques, and this was a very important step. Yesterday, we had a very interesting and powerful meeting
The Jerusalem