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The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahuannounced Sunday night a national reconfinement three weeks, thus becoming the first developed economy to reimpose such a measure to curb a second wave of infections of coronavirus.
“Today the government decided to apply strict confinement for three weeks with the option of extending the measure,” Netanyahu declared.
The authorities last week imposed a curfew to some 40 cities in the country, particularly in the ultra-Orthodox Arab and Jewish cities, in the hope of curbing the spread of the virus, which did not prevent the increase in the number of cases.
On the eve of the Jewish holidays, the country has experienced in recent days a debate among supporters of a partial or general confinement.
The government opted not only for general confinement, but also extended the measure for at least three weeks, during the Jewish holidays, to try to limit the spread of the virus at times when families gather and the faithful meet in the synagogues.
The confinement will take effect from Friday for the holiday of Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year), will continue during Yom Kippur and will end on the last day of Sukkot, around October 9, the authorities said.
According to data collected by AFP, Israel is the second country in the world which has registered the highest number of coronavirus cases per capita in recent weeks, after Bahrain, a new ally with which it must sign a relations normalization agreement on Tuesday in Washington.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Israel had closed schools and non-essential businesses, imposed the use of masks in public places and prohibited citizens from leaving their homes.
A relatively low number of cases had allowed the government accelerate a deconfinement with the reopening of bars, restaurants and cafes, places of worship and other activities, always maintaining the mandatory use of the mask.
But the infection rate in Israel has risen again with 153,217 cases of covid-19, including 1,103 deaths, for a population of 9 million.
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