Bennett tells Israelis to avoid grandparents to protect them from coronavirus

Defense Minister Naftali Bennett called on Israelis to keep away from their grandparents in order to protect them from the coronavirus, noting that one in five patients over the age of 80 is expected to succumb to the disease.

Bennett referred to this directive as “Operation Grandma,” a play on an Israeli cult classic film of the same name.

“We must protect grandma. There are a lot of things that we need to do, but the information coming in from around the world teaches us clearly that the deadliest connection is between a grandparent and their grandchild, between an elderly person and a young person,” he says, speaking at the opening of a hotel that was converted into a quarantine facility for carriers of the disease.

“I’m saying cautiously based on the information coming from all over the world. The death rate among older people is very high. Among those 80 years old and up, it is above one in five. One in five grandpas and grandmans who get the virus from their grandchild hugging them could die,” he says.