The Department of Health has hit out at a doctor who criticized the Omicron response

The Ministry of Health on Saturday lashed out at a prominent physician who criticized the Israeli response to the omicron variant of the coronavirus and government detention policies.

In an op-ed published on the Walla News site on Saturday, Dr. Idit Matot of Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital described policymakers as being driven by a “sense of anxiety and fear” and, despite being more contagious, Omicron. The variant is less virus than the previous strains of the virus.

“It’s important to know: the number of patients with coronavirus in the hospital – mild (mostly) or severe – they have coronavirus, but most of them do not go to the hospital for coronavirus,” said director Motot. Anesthesia in hospital.

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According to her, two children who were being treated at the hospital – one for brain bleeding and the other for a bladder infection – were listed as severe cases of coronavirus, although they were hospitalized.

General view of Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, November 10, 2020. (Yossi Aloni / Flash 90)

“Therefore, the publication of the number of severe coronavirus patients appearing in the media on a daily basis is misleading,” she said.

Matot said a new approach to Omicron was needed and that the restrictions on children, especially those without symptoms, should be relaxed.

“People have to be detained in their homes. We are in complete virtual detention and the country is on the verge of collapse. Are we crazy? She asked.

A few hours later, the Ministry of Health issued a statement against Matot, saying his proposal to relax the quarantine rules was “unacceptable”. ⁇

“The approach proposed by Professor Matot is likely to cause serious harm to at-risk groups and increase the number of serious illnesses and deaths,” the ministry said.

“Unfortunately, Professor Matot’s behavior and the language she chooses to express herself sometimes heightens the fear that she will prioritize publicity thirst over responsibility,” the ministry adds.

The ministry hit Ichilov Hospital for posting summaries of Matot’s op-ed on its Twitter account, saying it was “inappropriate and banned”.

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