• Israel,  Opinion,  Public Health,  Times of Israel

    The price of a life: More or less than the costs of traffic safety measures?

    [Repost from the Times of Israel]        Friday the 25th of December 2020. For some just a regular Shabbat evening, for others an evening with Christmas celebrations, or just an evening like any other. However, for the families of three young Israelis this was a night that changed their lives. During early nighttime hours, at the infamous Highway 4 (Kvish Arba), two cars made a full-frontal crash. Killing one of the drivers on the spot and leaving the other driver as well as its passenger critically injured.        In typical Israeli or maybe just current-day fashion, photos and comments about this tragic accident circulated freely on social…

  • COVID-19,  Opinion,  Public Health,  Times of Israel

    No more anti-vaxxers: Now is the time for adequate health education

    [Repost from the Times of Israel]        It’s early November, almost 11 months into the global COVID-19 pandemic and it appears we’re nowhere near the end of it. While some countries have opted for complete lockdown (Israel included) and others tried to ride out the first wave of infection, it appears that we’re all ending up at the same finish line: increasing numbers of infected and diseased individuals, as well as economic disaster and widespread unemployment.        Often mentioned as way out of the pandemic is ”herd immunity”: achieved when a majority of the population is immune to a virus, either through its natural cause of…

  • COVID-19,  Opinion,  Public Health,  Times of Israel

    How did we stop caring about COVID?

    [Repost from the Times of Israel]        On March 20, Israel recorded it’s first COVID-19 death: the 88-year old Holocaust survivor Aryeh Even Z”L. Only two days later, on March 24th, a second death is reported: the 67-year old beloved grandmother Malka Keva Z”L. From there on numbers go quickly: an 87-year old man, a 91-year old woman, an 83-year old man, an 89-year old woman. All dearly beloved individuals, greatly missed by those who are left behind, who often weren’t even able to say goodbye due to the isolation measures around those with confirmed coronavirus infections.        The Israeli media followed the developments of the…