Student ambassador: Eitan Oren
Mining sources: PressReader, which only gathers the newspaper Israel Hayom (the most popular ‘freely distributed’ one)
Search words: corona, coronavirus and covid-19
Total articles: 108
General findings: Overwhelmingly focused on “Corona” קורונה, with few mentions of “Covid-19” in Hebrew.
Corona is used interchangeably to denote the virus, the disease, and the ‘era’.
Highest word frequencies: Patients, Nursery School, Elderly Care Homes.
Ample use of slogans, jargon, and catchphrases: e.g., ‘love in the days of Corona.’
Evolution of Key Words
The first mention of Coronavirus in the newspaper was 31 January 2020. The headline reads ‘Corona danger: emergency situation in the world, flight lockdown in Israel’ (7,834 tested positive in the world). The first sentence reads: Corona Panic In Israel.
The Corona in Israel, הקורונה בישראל, February 23.
Corona Spread התפשטות, March 5.
Corona Coping Advice (e.g., “Isolated? Here is how you will live through it”), 5 March.
Corona Heroes and villains (volunteers and rule-breakers), 6 March.
Corona Impact (on culture, art, music, sports, stock market), 9 March.
Corona Crisis, משבר הקורונה March 12.
Israel’s Intelligence Services joined the fight against Corona on 27 March.
Winning the Corona, מנצחים את הקורונה April 7.
March-April is Jewish/national holiday amidst Corona (Purim, Pesach, Holocaust Memorial Day, Remembrance Day).
Corona Debacles (incoming flight from New York had people infected with the virus on it, elderly care-homes), 12 April.
Medical Trials of Corona Medicines, 13 April.
‘Spread danger has yet to diminish’, 13 April.
Creativity (doctors and nurses put images of their faces on PPE, writing children’s stories during Corona), 13 April.
Coronavirus/COVID
3 January: no articles
11 January: no articles
14 January: no articles
15 January: no articles
17 January: no articles
19 January: no articles
21 January: no articles
22 January: no articles
27 January: no articles
2 February: no articles
3 February: no articles
5 February: 1 article. Corona panic in Thailand.
7 February: 1 article. Sports event held in Paris (with no participants from Corona-risk countries).
8 February: no articles
9 February: The pandemic’s symbol: Dr Lee’s death set protests in China.
10 February: no articles
11 February: 1 article. Government ministers struggle to balance foreign (travel restrictions) and health risks.
13 February: 1 article. Air companies to postpone resuming flights to China and potential financial impact on air companies.
18 February: no articles.
20 February: no articles
25 February: 5 articles. Medical labs warn against labour shortages. Israeli Ambassador in Italy reports in an opinion piece. Infuriating: a professor called for lockdown on Jewish Orthodox neighbourhoods. Disinformation and upcoming elections; Increased risk of Corona cases in Israel.
26 February: no articles
29 February: no articles
3 March: 5 articles. Israel’s number of patients leaps - all signs lead to Italy. Domestic politics - election. Domestic politics - 3rd election and Coronavirus ‘brings some action’ to this routine. Domestic politics - election. Social issues amidst the Corona including disinformation and discrimination.
4 March: no articles
5 March: 1 article. Global pandemic.
6 March: 10 articles. The criminal investigation against ‘isolation’ flouters. Sports events should be cancelled (opinion piece). Calling politicians to form a broad coalition government to fight the Corona (using the 1967 war as a precedent; opinion piece). Global Pandemics. Emergency in the Palestinian Authority. ‘Grounded’ - Corona’s impact on air travel. Corona’s impact on sports. Corona’s impact on the Israeli Defence Force. Last passengers of the ‘Corona Ship’ were released from self-isolation. Government measures to stall the economic impact of Corona.
7 March: no articles
9 March: 5 articles. Corona’s impact on construction. Corona’s impact on classical music concerts. Corona’s impact on basketball. Celebrating a Jewish festival despite Corona. Disinfection of a soccer stadium ahead of a match.
11 March: no articles
12 March: 10 articles. Journalists request to be exempt from self-isolation after returning from Egypt. ‘Holding defence’ - new guidance to halt the spread of the Coronavirus. Head of a religious institution diagnosed tested positive for the virus. Sports event held with no crowds. Youngest Corona patient. Sport; Q&A - all restrictions, guidance and precautions. Marriage ceremonies allowed to be held anywhere amidst Corona. Israel’s 2nd Corona patient ‘wandered around’ for two weeks un-tested. Sports event.
13 March: no articles
15 March: The impact of Corona on Sport. Plans to treat senior citizens. The impact of Corona on leisure and cultural activities. Italians’ response to Corona through singing on balconies.
16 March: no articles
17 March: 5 articles. A newborn isolated as his mom is a corona patient. Israeli President tested negative for Corona. Members of parliament being sworn in amidst corona. National soccer league implications. Home Front Command prepares to join ‘war against corona’. Public sector into an emergency posture, including cellular surveillance measures to trace contacts.
19 March: no articles
20 March: no articles
21 March: no articles
22 March: no articles
26 March: no articles
28 March: no articles
29 March: no articles
30 March: no articles
3 April: 6 articles. Most deadly 24 hours of all: 10 patients died of the virus’. Unregulated disinfection services. Hamas’s verbal threats on ‘millions of Zionists’. An orthodox Jewish city put under lockdown. Personal story of an Israeli who contracted the virus and recovered in New York. Coalition forming negotiations.
4 April: no articles
6 April: no articles
7 April: ‘Winning the Corona’. Senior citizens and carers’ testing. Mass gathering of Corona patients approved due to a Jewish holiday. Potential Drug tests. Self and social reflection on ‘Corona days’. Challenges for Corona patients staying in a hotel. Negative impact on tourist city Eilat.
11 April: no articles
12 April: 5 articles. Number of tests behind target. American politics. Repatriation. Police investigation into claims.
13 April: 15 articles. Consumer prices. Disease recovery. Government furlough-policy; medical initiative. Budget allocations to hospitals; corona-drug test. Senior care-home debacle. Defence R&D. Risk-assessment (“risk of spread has yet to pass”).
15 April: no articles
17 April: 11 articles. The most frequent terms are ‘Corona’ (29) and ‘Elderly care homes’ (15).
18 April: no articles
19 April: no articles
22 April: no articles
24 April: 6 articles. The most frequent terms are ‘Corona’ (13) and ‘The patients’ (6).
26 April: no articles
27 April: no articles
29 April: no articles
30 April: 4 articles. The most frequent terms are ‘Corona’ (10), ‘nursery school’ (8), ‘Kids’ (7), and ‘the Kids’ (7).