Posted on 11/10/21
| News Source: Arutz-7
Israel is to conduct a National COVID Drill to examine nationwide readiness for the outbreak of a new lethal COVID-19 variant; this national drill is the first of its kind in the world.
The drill will be conducted in the format of war-games and be called “Omega Drill”.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said: "The State of Israel is in an excellent situation. We beat the fourth wave so that we are on our way toward exiting the Delta variant. However, at the same time, we are always looking ahead and preparing for the continuation of the campaign. We are not 'closing up shop'. Neither are we closing down the management systems and the order of battle against the virus. On the contrary, we are continuing to hold drills and to challenge ourselves. While the situation of coronavirus in the world is deteriorating, Israel is safe and protected. In order to maintain this, and to safeguard the continuity of normal life, we must continue to closely monitor the situation and prepare for any scenario."
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will lead the national drill tomorrow (Thursday, 11 November 2021).
The exercise, which will be run by Defense Ministry Director of Civil Defense Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Moshe Edri, will be held at the National Management Center in Jerusalem, which is designed for the management of nationwide crises. Among the participants will be government ministry director generals, representatives of the professional agencies, the national coronavirus project manager, the Director of the Public Health Service, the Chairperson of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, and representatives of the National Security Council and the IDF (including Home Front Command).
The drill will be conducted in the format of a war-game and will consist of a senior-level, inter-organizational simulation that tests the national management of a new strain, the 'Omega' strain, that has not yet been discovered in the State of Israel.
In order to simulate a real situation, the exercise will be held in three sessions that will simulate the passage of time between the various scenarios. Ministerial and inter-ministerial assessments will be held in the framework of which the data will be reviewed and recommendations for action will be presented. After these, a comprehensive assessment will be held during which the Prime Minister will issue instructions to all agencies for continued action.
The drill will deal with various aspects of a pandemic scenario and will test the professional systems in extreme situations over the stages of the exercise: