Israel: New surge in COVID-19 cases may cause return to lockdown

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent (Worthy News) – Israeli officials are anticipating the likelihood of renewing a nationwide lockdown as the country had 1,575 new cases of COVID-19 Monday, the Times of Israel reports. With a population of fewer than nine million residents, Israel has now had over 43,000 cases, including over 23,000 currently active cases and 375 coronavirus related deaths.

The Times of Israel (ToI) reports that on Monday the number of severe coronavirus cases had jumped by 32 in one day to 183. This figure had more than doubled in less than a week.

Israel was put in lockdown for several weeks starting in mid-March but was largely opened again in May in order to stimulate the economy. “Recent weeks have seen the reversal of many of the earlier gains made in the fight against the coronavirus,” ToI observed in its report. Experts are warning new restrictions must be put in place in order to contain the recent surge in cases. Five heavily hit towns and cities were placed in lockdown on Friday, after the number of daily new cases reached over 1,000.

Members of Israel’s National Security Council have reportedly recommended the closure of beaches, synagogues, and yeshivas as well as the closure of restaurants, except for delivery services. Ministers and health officials have also considered reducing the number of people in a gathering from 20 people to 10. However, a meeting chaired by PM Netanyahu with medical experts and health ministry representatives did not result in agreement on a plan for going forward, ToI reported.

On Sunday, experts from Hebrew University told the government that, at the current rate, 100 more Israelis are expected to die by the end of July. The experts advised that strict new restrictions, including a national lockdown, should be imposed if the infection rate has not slowed down by next week.

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