The coronavirus cabinet Tuesday approved a nighttime curfew for the duration of the Jewish holiday of Purim in an effort to minimize festivities and prevent the further spread of the pathogen.
The curfew will be in place from Thursday until Sunday, and will last from 8:30pm to 5am.
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Purim festivities in Jerusalem in 2020, as the pandemic began to take hold
(Photo: AFP)
The cabinet also voted to minimize public transportation that period in order to discourage revelers from attending illicit parties during the period of the normally festive holiday.
Ministers agreed to meet on Wednesday in order to make a decision on a further reopening of the education system.
After weeks of continuous decline, Israel's COVID-19 reproduction number has been climbing again in recent days and has reached 0.86, the Coronavirus National Information and Knowledge Center reported Tuesday morning, raising concerns of a resurging spread of the disease.
A reproduction number, or R number, indicates how many other people a person carrying the virus will infect.
According to data, 4,677 new cases of coronavirus were detected out of some 69,000 tests conducted on Monday, meaning 7% of tests yielded a positive result - topping the 6.5% weekly average.
Of the new coronavirus patients, 77% were under the age of 39, and only 6.2% were over 60.
The taskforce warned that the extent of infections and the fact that a significant proportion of the population has not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19 is causing a slow reduction in the number of serious cases.
Officials urged Israelis to adhere to health regulations as the country emerged from a six-week lockdown two weeks ago, opening schools for children younger than 10 and allowing a growing list of industries to reopen, and as the more infectious U.K. coronavirus variant became the dominant strain in Israel.
There were 797 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in serious condition as of Tuesday morning, including 248 people who were connected to ventilators.
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An Israeli woman is vaccinated against COVID-19 at a Jerusalem medical center, Feb. 23, 2021
(Photo: EPA)
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, 5,604 people have died in Israel from coronavirus-related complications.
The Health Ministry announced on Tuesday morning that over 70% of Israelis over the age of 16 have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Out of some 4.5 million inoculated citizens, nearly half of Israel's population, more than 3 million have also received the second booster shot.
Some 157,000 people were inoculated with either the first or the second dose on Monday alone.