In addition, the report showed an acute shortage of protective masks and other gear for healthcare workers. As of March 25, there were 3,600 healthcare workers in isolation, including 926 doctors and 1,192 nurses.
Bar Siman Tov was quick to defend the ministry: "This event is a tsunami that could not have been prepared for,” he said, explaining that the numbers in the report did not show the whole picture.
"We have in stock about 1,500 usable and available respirators," he said. "There are another 70 respirators in the private system that we will use as well. We currently have 2,864 machines above those currently in use, assuming they are all in working order."
He added that the country is also trying to establish production of ventilators in Israel with the goal of reaching as many as 3,000.
But whether that number will be enough to handle all the country’s expected critical patients was unclear from the discussion. In order to ensure that the health system does not buckle under the pressure, Bar Siman Tov said that the aim is to "flatten the curve" – to prevent a sharp peak of cases but rather spread out the infection over a longer period of time. Read more at JPost