Nurses Start General Strike in Israel on Monday

Nurses in Israel started a general strike Monday morning due to what they described as a shortage of manpower that makes it impossible for them to continue their work under pressures linked to the outbreak of the Coronavirus.

This comes after talks with the Ministry of Finance failed to prevent the strike, as union leaders and Director-General of the Ministry of Finance, Keren Turner Eyal, did not reach any agreement during the meetings that took place on Sunday and at Monday dawn.

It was not immediately clear if the strike would last only one day or if it was open.

The Ministry of Health said Sunday that there are 813 nurses in quarantine, while the "Ynet" news site mentioned that no workers were added, even while hospitals opened more departments for COVID-19 patients.

The head of the Israel Nurse Syndicate, Ilana Cohen, said that they explained the situation to the Director General of the Ministry of Finance.

It must be understood that the shortage of nurses did not start with the Corona pandemic. The Ministry of Finance is the one taking responsibility and had time to solve this issue.

Last week Cohen wrote to Finance Minister Moshe Katz, a message saying that the nurses in a state of Israel collapse.

Katz explained that it is no longer possible to continue to work.

"The system is broken, at the moment what we need is a workforce."

In light of the strike, it is expected that hospitals and clinics in the country will reduce their services, except for emergencies and response to the Coronavirus.

On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned several lawmakers from his "Likud" party that the novel Coronavirus "COVID-19" may inflict a deadly blow on the whole of humanity.

Israeli Channel 12 quoted one of the of the Knesset as confirming that Netanyahu, at a time when the battle against the Coronavirus in Israel reached its climax last month, expressed his deep concern about reports coming from other countries in the world on new infections among people who had previously recovered from the virus.

According to the Israeli channel, Netanyahu said if those reports are proven to be credible, then this danger could mean the end of humanity.

Other sources with whom Netanyahu spoke with confirmed that the prime minister had warned of global chaos scenarios caused by the deadly virus.

Netanyahu also stressed, over the report, during government meetings held, that the death toll from the pandemic in Israel was likely to reach ten thousand deaths and one million infections until the end of April along with hospitals crowded.

On his part, the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Health in Israel, Moshe Bar Siman Tove, warned on April 6, according to the report, that Coronavirus may spread in Israel on a scale similar to that recorded in Spain and Italy, the two European countries most affected by the pandemic.

In public statements, Netanyahu has expressed his deep concern about the risk of developing "COVID-19" by a person more than once. He said this means that the situation is more complicated than he had thought until now and who is recovering from the virus is not immune to it.

Public opinion polls conducted in Israel indicate that Netanyahu managed to regain social support on the backdrop of the Coruna outbreak.

Meanwhile, the Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee approved today the increased fine as punishment for not wearing a medical mask in public places up to 500 shekels (more than $ 145).

Professor Eli Watsman , Israeli Prime Ministers advisor to combat the Coronavirus, , announced that the Israeli health authorities have lost control of the deadly virus.