Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday will hold a meeting on the possibility of tightening the country’s lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic, as the number of infected in Israel shot up to 1,238.
The Health Ministry on Monday morning announced the new tally, a rise of 135 over Sunday evening. It said 24 people were in serious condition as a result of the virus, and 34 were moderately ill. The ministry said it had administered over 5,000 tests in the past 24 hours. Some 464 of the ill were at home and 120 were being treated in hotels that had been converted to house COVID-19 patients, the ministry said.
Some 37 people have recovered from the disease in Israel, while one person, 88-year-old Aryeh Even, has died.
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan on Monday doubled down on his call for a full lockdown of the country and called for greater enforcement.
“My fear is of what will happen in a week or two,” Erdan, whose office oversees the police, told the Kan public broadcaster. “A week ago I expressed my opinion that we must have a full lockdown for two weeks, with much wider enforcement. The number of options for leaving home [under such a scenario] would be must more limited.”
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan arrives for the weekly cabinet meeting, at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, on June 2, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Ministers late Saturday night updated the emergency regulations, which came into effect on Sunday at 8 a.m. for the next seven days, aimed at keeping Israelis at home and to be enforced by police.
According to the new rules, which the government has vowed to enforce, Israelis must remain at home, with exceptions made for buying essential food and medical supplies or seeking medical treatment.
