Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Ministers Nitzan Horowitz, Yair Lapid and Orna Barbibai and Deputy Minister Avir Kara – agreed over the weekend on the outline of the malls, in an attempt to deal with the outbreak of coronavirus omicron strain, but at the same time minimize economic damage to malls’ businesses.
According to the outline, in closed malls and closed commercial areas, a tight purple character will be applied immediately, according to an occupancy ratio of 1:15. There will also be increased enforcement regarding the wearing of masks, through the addition of corona trustees and inspectors. At the same time, the hours of operation in the malls will be extended in order to profit from the overcrowding in the trade.
Beyond these steps, immunization stations will be set up at dozens of key centers in the malls. Special benefits will be given to vaccinators in the mall in an attempt to create an encouraging atmosphere of vaccination. Depending on the morbidity rates, the possibility of applying a green label to any commercial building with an area of more than 100 square meters will be examined in the coming days.
The outline will be discussed by the government this morning, and after they have finished drafting the regulations, they will bring a telephone poll to the Corona Cabinet. Entry into force will be immediate.
The announcement of the outline reached came after a discussion was held on Thursday with the participation of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, senior Ministry of Health officials and representatives of the relevant ministries. During the hearing, Bennett and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz demanded a green label for malls so that anyone who does not have a green label can only enter essential stores. However, Economy Minister Orna Barbibai and representatives of the Ministry of Finance opposed the outline, and the discussion ended without a decision.
Many business owners did not like the government’s zigzag regarding the mall outline that has taken place in recent days. “It seemed unprofessional. At first the government demanded that at the entrances to the malls they be marked with bracelets, to identify who was vaccinated and who was not vaccinated. President of Lahav – Chamber of Independent and Business Organizations. The decision-making process must not be based on panic. “Adv. Cohen argued that the feeling is that they are trying to take business owners hostage, in order to force people to get vaccinated. “It is not possible for the business sector to become a stick against those who are not vaccinated,” he concluded.
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Tomer Moore, CEO of “Strong Restaurants Together”, told Maariv: “The government did well to withdraw its demand to have a green label in malls, because if the label was implemented, its economic damage would be large, disproportionate and unenforceable on the ground.” He added that the government could not declare that businesses remain open – and yet restrict them in a way that harms them financially, without compensating them for the damage done to them.
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