Shuki Weiss is beginning to see the light of normality after the covid.
The music promoter, who helped bring the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Rolling Stones to play in Israel, has started to feel like his industry, which has been hard hit, is waking up again in the last month.
“Every show we have announced in the last 14 days sold out in about four to five hours, which is not usual in Israel,” Weiss told Citizen Free Press. “In Israel, when people see an ad, they see a show coming up, they don’t usually raid the box office… Now, however, the situation is completely different. In every program that is advertised, you see people running, blocking our website… All programs sell out in a few hours. People are desperate to see a show here.
While the world recorded more than 5.2 million new coronavirus infections last week, breaking the weekly record for global cases, Israel now reports just over 100 new infections daily, a fraction compared to the peak of its pandemic in January.
In Israel, a sense of normalcy is returning to daily life. Masks are no longer required when people are outdoors. The economy is open. It is difficult to get a reservation at many restaurants. Students are returning to schools full time. Live theater and sports are back.
There are still restrictions and rules, such as wearing masks in enclosed spaces and capacity limits for any indoor and outdoor space. A certificate of vaccination or ‘green pass’, showing that a person is inoculated or can show that they have antibodies to the coronavirus from a previous infection, is required for most indoor social activities or large-scale events. And the country is still mostly closed to outside visitors; even first-degree relatives of Israeli residents must receive special permission to enter, although the government announced that vaccinated tourist groups will be able to visit the country after May 23.
But for Israelis, there is a sense that their country is one of the first to experience what life can be like on the other side of the pandemic.
“I am pleased to say that we are indeed making progress [en] our post-covid days, ”Weiss said, adding that by June organizers hope to return to full-capacity events in large stadiums. “The local shows are doing very well … It’s happening, it’s a great celebration.”
Israelis skeptical of the new normal
Not that most Israelis think the coronavirus is completely over. Although outdoor masks are not required, many people can still be seen wearing them walking down the street.
Shopping for clothes near Jerusalem’s central market, Dror Langer said he is not sure that Israel has overcome the pandemic.
“People are still afraid, I wear a mask, I can see that other people are wearing a mask, but we hope that everything is finished,” Langer told Citizen Free Press. “We have the feeling that everything is finished, everything is open, people are happy, going to hotels, going on weekend trips, all restaurants, all hotels are full.”
Sitting outside at a restaurant in Jerusalem, Michal Ahmbadi cradles her newborn baby as she finally enjoys a food tasting session that she and her husband had booked before the pandemic.
“There is still some feeling of coronavirus, like needing a mask in a closed place. But there really is a feeling that we are back to normal, “he said. “I am less worried (about the arrival of new mutations), but in my opinion it has to happen gradually, all the problems related to the reopening of the skies and the return of tourists from abroad, it has to be totally gradual.”
Covid-19 cases drop dramatically in Israel
According to the Israel Ministry of Health, a large majority of people eligible for the vaccine have received at least one dose; every age group from the age of 20 is vaccinated by at least 75% with a single injection, although there are still hundreds of thousands left to inoculate. But one of the country’s leading coronavirus experts, Eran Segal of the Weizmann Institute of Science, believes that vaccines have almost eradicated Covid-19 from Israel.
“Herd immunity is not binary, but I do think we reached a high level of immunity such that outbreaks are now very unlikely (unless a variant comes along that skips the vaccines),” Segal told Citizen Free Press.
According to Segal’s calculations, since Israel’s last peak of infection in mid-January, there have been 98% fewer cases and 87% fewer deaths. About 85% of the population who are over 16 years old have already been vaccinated or have some form of immunity to a previous infection, their data show.
“Life is close to precovid,” he tweeted last week.
The economic situation reflects that optimism. According to the Bank of Israel, the Israeli economy is “recovering at a rapid pace” and the monthly unemployment rate for March fell below 10%, compared to 14% in February.
For Israelis like Langer, happiness over the improvement is tempered by constant concerns that more vaccines will be needed or that they will revert to more restrictive measures.
“Who knows what will happen,” he said. “But life is too short and we have to live.”