Netanyahu slams government handling of Omicron, nixing of quarantine for kids

Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu slams the government’s handling of the current COVID wave, claiming Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid “aren’t doing anything” to stop rampant infections and rising death rates.

Netanyahu, who faced similar accusations from the opposition when he was in power, says the current government has failed to contain the Omicron outbreak and to prevent hospitals from facing immense strain.

He lambastes the planned cancelation of quarantine for children exposed to COVID carriers, set to take effect on Thursday.

“Despite evidence from the United States about severe symptoms harming kids who had Omicron, the government decided that in two days, we will switch to a policy of mass infection of all Israeli children,” he argues. “Without quarantine, without enforcement, without orderly tests — everyone will get infected.”

He says that apart from long-term symptoms some will experience, many children will infect adults, calling it “a real danger.”