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Israel is imposing a three-week lockdown with drastic exit restrictions to curb the further spread of the coronavirus. A cabinet member announced his resignation in protest of the measures.
The new crown restrictions should go into effect before the Jewish festivals of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur on Friday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced this Sunday night after a cabinet meeting.
The clinic’s directors have “raised the red flag,” Netanyahu said. Immediate action is required. “Our goal is to stop the increase.” The country currently has record levels of more than 4,000 new infections per day.
Government loses coalition partner
Schools and kindergartens are said to be closed. Also, entry to synagogues and other places of worship should be strictly restricted or banned altogether. Except for exceptional cases, people are only allowed up to 500 meters from their homes. Hotels, restaurants and shopping centers, as well as leisure facilities, should also remain closed, according to media reports. Grocery shopping and doctor visits are still allowed.
Authorities and private companies should work with restrictions. Additionally, mounting restrictions apply: up to 20 people can meet outdoors and up to ten people indoors. If necessary, exit restrictions at the national level could also be extended, Netanyahu emphasized in a televised speech.
There is resistance to the measures in the cabinet and in the country. The strictly religious Minister of Housing and former Minister of Health Jakov Litzman of the United Torah Judaism party announced his resignation in protest of the measures.
Litzman is a major partner in Netanyahu’s coalition. There are also weekly demonstrations at the home of the controversial prime minister, whom critics accuse of being distracted from the fight against the virus by the ongoing corruption processes against him.
The crisis in the crown has already seriously affected the country’s economy. The summer unemployment rate was more than 20 percent.
Israel currently has one of the highest corona infection rates in the world. Since the outbreak of the new virus, Israeli authorities have recorded more than 153,000 cases of infection. The infections caused death in at least 1,100 cases. The country has 9 million inhabitants.
