JERUSALEM (AP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday that a new blockade would be imposed across the country amid a sharp increase in coronavirus cases, and that schools and sectors of the economy will close in an attempt to reduce infection rates.
Starting Friday, at the start of the high season of Jewish holidays, schools, restaurants, grocery stores and hotels will close, among other businesses, and Israelis will face movement and meeting restrictions.
“Our purpose is to prevent accumulation (of cases) and minimize morbidity,” Netanyahu said in a nationwide statement. “I know those steps have a difficult value for all of us. This is not the vacation we’re used to. “
The tightening of measures marks the moment when Israel has been plunged into a blockade, after a long prevention in the spring. Rocket.
The lock will remain in place for at least 3 weeks, when officials will be able to revoke the measures if the numbers decrease. Israelis regularly hold a giant circle of family gatherings and synagogues of Yom Kippur’s vital rapid later this month, parameters officials say. can lead to new epidemics.
One point of friction in the government’s deliberations on closure was what Christmas prayers would look like. While the main points on closing prayer were not realized in the government’s decision, they were intended to be strict limits for the faithful. Minister Yaakov Litzman, who represents the ultra-Orthodox Jews, resigned from the previous government on Sunday.
Israel has had more than 150,000 cases shown of coronavirus and more than 1,100 deaths. With a population of nine million, the country is now experiencing one of the worst epidemics in the world. Now you see more than 4,000 cases of viruses.
Israel was praised for its initial control of the coronavirus epidemic, acting temporarily to seal the country’s borders and detect infections. Since then he has been criticized for opening businesses and schools too temporarily and allowing the virus to spread uncontrolled.
Much of the complaint addressed to Netanyahu, who faced a public outing over his handling of the crisis and saw thousands of protesters descend into his Jerusalem apartment each week. distracted by politics and non-public affairs, adding his trial on allegations of corruption, as infections increased over the summer.
Netanyahu was also criticized for appearing to be bending to the tension of various stakeholders, adding more recently to his ultra-Orthodox government partners, who gave the impression that he had persuaded him of a local, city-based closure plan that would have basically affected the ultra-Orthodox. Orthodox Arab Communities.
At sunday’s press convention in which the closure was delivered, Netanyahu defended his response, saying that the Israeli economy had emerged from the first closure in a larger state than many other evolved countries and that, cases were high, the country’s coronavirus mortality rates were lower than those of other countries with similar outbreaks.
The government of the power-sharing country, made up of two rival parties that have joined forces with the stated purpose of fighting the virus, has also been rebuked for the new epidemic. The government has been accused of mismanagement, which has not met the right and economic conditions. crisis caused by the virus and leading the country to its blocking time.
Meanwhile, some government ministers pointed the finger at what they called a rebellious public, which they accused of violating restrictions on public meetings and disguising themselves.
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