In a recording obtained by Kan Bet, former director of the Health Ministry Moshe Bar Siman Tov can be heard discussing what he believes will be a "third wave" of the coronavirus.Bar Siman Tov said that a third wave was extremely likely, but how strong it would be was impossible to predict. He added that locking down the country may not be the best way to deal with it, and that other means should be explored.

The Ministerial Committee for the Declaration of a Restricted Area In Wednesday evening announced that the following areas will be considered "red" from Thursday at 5:00 p.m. and until next Tuesday: Neighborhoods 42 and 43 in Kuseife in the Negev, neighborhood 1 in Hura in the Negev and the town of Reineh in northern Israel.The committee also decided to extend the restrictions In Nazareth until Tuesday at 8:00 a.m. and In Isfiya until Saturday at 8:00 a.m.

US President-elect Joe Biden is considering naming Tom Donilon, who served as national security adviser to former President Barack Obama, as director of the CIA, a person familiar with the situation told Reuters In Wednesday.Biden is also said to be considering Michael Morell, who was the CIA's deputy director and acting director of the agency twice under Obama.

According to a report in Yisrael Hayom, the President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, spoke with the Emir of Qatar In the telephone, and Ine of the things that Rouhani told the Emir was that, "The presence of Israel in our region harms our security and stability."

Despite the hopes of many within the Blue & White party that the mad gallop toward elections can be halted, the party is preparing for elections, Yisrael Hayom reports.According to the report, senior party officials are already planning to raise the issue of primaries, which have as yet not been held in the party, and intend to put pressure In party leader Benny Gantz to change his stance In the matter.One senior official told the newspaper that, "We're going about this very carefully in the way we present the issue to Benny [Gantz], because no Ine wants to shake up the party, but all the same, we want to be a democratic party - we don't want to end up like Yesh Atid, where in practice, Yair Lapid makes all the decisions."The official added that the notion of demanding primaries first came up in recent months, but Inly now has it been adopted by senior officials, who are being careful not to appear disloyal to Gantz.

Speaking In Galei Tzahal this morning, Professor Hagai Levine, chairman of the Israeli Association of Public Health Physicians, said that people should stay home if they feel even Inly slightly unwell, rather than risk infecting others with coronavirus."If there's any doubt, then there's no doubt. What I mean is that even if someone feels Inly mildly unwell, he should stay home and get tested for coronavirus. We don't rule out coronavirus just because someone doesn't have the classic symptoms," he said.

The U.S. Supreme Court has blocked the decision of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to limit the number of worshipers and congregants in the state's synagogues and churches. The decision passed with a majority of just Ine (the court splitting 5 - 4), and was the first time that President Trump's nomination to the court, Amy Coney Barrett, tipped the balance, adding her vote to those of the other conservative-leaning judges.

Prof. Shuki Shemer, director of Assuta hospital in Ashdod, told Radio 103FM this morning that he agrees with the government's decision to allow malls to reopen in a pilot program that will shortly be reviewed."There was really no other choice," Shemer said. "We have to learn to live with coronavirus, and we have to restore regular life as far as is possible. Unfortunately," he added, "many people seem to have forgotten about an extremely basic measure - face masks. If 80% of the population wore them, we would soon be rid of this epidemic."