The coronavirus cabinet met Monday to determine the next steps to help stop the renewed spread of the novel coronavirus and approved a series of new restrictions effective immediately: clubs, bars, cultural shows and gyms will close and synagogue attendance at 19 people.Late Sunday night, the Health Ministry was recommending closing synagogues in their entirety. However, the cabinet accepted the proposal of Interior Minister Arye Deri and decided to leave them open with limited attendees. “We are required to address the coronavirus epidemic on the ground,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the start of the meeting. The plague is spreading – it is clear as daylight. The numbers are rising steeply each day and with it the number of severely ill patients. “Today, there are about 90 severely ill patients and that doubles every day,” he continued. “If we do not act now, we will have hundreds and possibly thousands of serious patients in the coming weeks… That is why we are required to take immediate steps.”
The Health Ministry, which came to the table with a series of recommendations, said that if decisions were not made on Monday that by next week the discussion would center on a total lockdown. The head of the National Security Council expressed similar sentiments.
“We are one step away from a total closure,” National Security Council head Meir Ben-Shabbat said.
The full list of restrictions is as follows:1. Event halls, clubs and bars – closed
2. Restaurants – 20 people sitting inside, up to 30 outside
3. Synagogues – 19 people
4. Gyms and public pools – closed
5. Cultural performances – closed
6. Organized sporting events – without fans
7. hotels and tourism – clubs and bars closed, hotel restaurants 20 people (closed seating)
8. Summer camps – closed for children over fourth grade
9. Buses – up to 20 people per bus, with windows open and no air-conditioning
10. Gatherings – up to 20 people, two meters apart with masks
11. Government offices – 30% of staff required to work from homeYeshivot remain open. Earlier in the day, it was reported that there will be no discussion around closing yeshivot, due to pressure by Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism), who reportedly even threatened to retire from the government if the option was discussed at the cabinet meeting. Furthermore, the government approved the draft law for the amendment and validation of emergency regulations so that the restrictions on which the government decides will take effect immediately.
The bill will be passed for approval of the Knesset plenum immediately.
According to the amendment to the law, the Knesset Committee will discuss decisions and decide whether to approve them, in whole or in part, within seven days of the said date.
An extension of up to three more days is allowed.
To the extent that the relevant committee does not approve the government’s decision within the aforementioned period, the decisions will be brought to the Knesset plenum as soon as possible.
Alongside the Knesset approval process, the decisions will come into effect and will be implemented immediately upon government approval. If the committee or the Knesset plenary decides not to approve the said order or if it has not made a decision on the matter within the time allowed, the validity of the order will expire.
Also, the Knesset Law Committee voted seven to four on Monday morning to advance a bill pushed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to massively increase the fine for not wearing a mask in public from 200 to 500 shekels.
The bill still must pass in the Knesset plenum to become law. The coalition intends to bring it to a vote by Monday evening.Masks have been proven in multiple studies to stop the spread of coronavirus by as much as 95%.Law Committee Chairman Yaakov Asher (United Torah Judaism) said he wanted the fine to be raised by only NIS 100, but the National Security Council insisted on the fine being raised substantially to help ensure compliance. The news of the fines came as the Health Ministry disseminated a first set of numbers on Monday, showing that there have now been 30,162 people diagnosed with coronavirus since the start of the crisis.
As of Monday morning, there are 11,856 active cases in Israel, including 90 in serious condition, among them 32 who are intubated.There were 817 people diagnosed with the virus on Sunday; since midnight, another 107 have tested positive. The death toll has risen to 332.On Sunday, the Health Ministry conducted 18,948 tests.
Two members of the Jerusalem city council were confirmed as being infected with the coronavirus in recent days, the municipality announced on Monday.
A number of employees at the municipality have been required to enter quarantine. It will update workers that need to enter quarantine after the epidemiological investigation is completed.Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion will not have to enter isolation, his spokesperson said. Gil Hoffman contributed to this report.
Comments are closed.