Israel to lock down nationwide in main holiday season amid COVID-19 surge

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Israel to lock down nationwide in main holiday season amid COVID-19 surge

 

FILE PHOTO: People wearing face masks to help fight the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) walk past shops in a market in Jerusalem's Old City July 6, 2020. REUTERS/Ammar Awad/ File Photo

 

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel will enter a three-week nationwide lockdown starting on Friday to contain the spread of the coronavirus after a second- wave surge of new cases, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.

 

During the lockdown, which comes during the Jewish high-holiday season, Israelis will have to stay within 500 metres of their houses, but can travel to workplaces that will be allowed to operate on a limited basis.

 

Schools and shopping malls will be closed but supermarkets and pharmacies will remain open. The public sector will operate with fewer staff, but non-governmental offices and businesses will not have to close, as long as they do not accept customers.

 

Indoor gatherings are limited to 10 people and no more than 20 people outdoors.

 

"I know those measures will exact a heavy price on us all," Netanyahu said in a televised address. "This is not the kind of holiday we are used to. And we certainly won't be able to celebrate with our extended families."

 

The Finance Ministry said the lockdown will cost the economy, which slipped into a recession in the wake of the virus, an estimated 6.5 billion shekels ($1.88 billion).

 

Netanyahu, who has faced increasing criticism over his handling of the coronavirus crisis, said he instructed his finance minister to come up with a new economic package to assist businesses hurt by the lockdown.

 

Israel declared an even tighter lockdown in April when the virus first arrived, after which daily cases dropped to low double digits among a population of nine million.

 

But as the economy reopened, daily infections jumped, passing 4,000 last week. On Saturday, 2,715 new cases were reported. Since the outbreak began, 1,108 people have died.

 

The country's health system "raised a red flag" a few days ago, spurring the government to act, Netanyahu said.

 

The director general of the Health Ministry, Hezi Levy, said in a radio interview earlier on Sunday that "dozens of localities are being sucked into the circle of morbidity."

 

"We have to impose severe restrictions, but they will be able to stem this wave and not bring us to the brink of an abyss," Levy said.

 

($1 = 3.4566 shekels)

 

(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch and Jeffrey Heller, Editing by William Maclean)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-09-14

 

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[Cryingdick]

I guess Covid will just patiently wait for them to resurface. 

[tribalfusion001]

It's all pre-planned now, get ready people, others will follow. Time to fight back is getting close, when governments pick fights with their people it's time for revolution.

[Morch]

16 minutes ago, tribalfusion001 said:

It's all pre-planned now, get ready people, others will follow. Time to fight back is getting close, when governments pick fights with their people it's time for revolution.

 

Don't forget to put on your tin-foil hat first.

[Morch]

And then there's the back story.

 

Several weeks ago, the Israeli government appointed a Corona/Covid-19 'czar'. Efforts under his direction mapped the pandemic's hot-spots, and a color-code system was devised in order to classify Cities, towns, villages and neighborhoods so that restrictive measure could be applied selectively.

 

Unfortunately, science and politics clashed. Highest numbers of cases and fastest spread was found in both predominantly Orthodox Jewish and Arab areas. Not surprising, and a replay of previous tests. Poorer, less educated population and a larger degree of distrust vs. authorities.

 

So when the new 'czar' called for partial lock-down, focusing on these areas, Netanyahu backed it up. The Orthodox Jews' representatives in parliament and community leaders announced they if measured will be applied, he can forget about their vote for all eternity, also complaining that the decision marginalizes and stereotypes them. Oh, and of course, they said they'd ignore restrictions anyway. The Arab contingent was less vocal, as there was no need, or time - it took Netanyahu but a day to backtrack. The 'solution' arrived at was this unnecessary general lock-down - with provisions allowing prayers while contradicting social distancing (not that it matters, the Orthodox Jews still say they'll ignore most of the restrictions anyway).

 

In the Pandemic's early days, Israel managed to put a lead on things - due to air traffic being limited to begin with, and political necessities (again, Netanyahu's) favoring strict application of lock-down.