The Health Ministry is debating whether to quarantine the southern city of Netivot, due to the sharp increase in coronavirus cases following a mass Seder on the first night of Passover.
According to recent data, there are currently 69 confirmed coronavirus cases in the city and another 13 of its coronavirus patients have made a full recovery.
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A sign reading 'No entry to the city' at the entrance to Netivot for the first night Passover
(Photo: Roee Idan)
In a post published by Netivot municipality, the reason for the sudden spike in confirmed cases is made clear.
"In the past week, we have witnessed an unusual increase in the number of sick within the city," the post said.
"This increase is due to two exceptional cases: Two separate households hosted guests from another family during Passover, mingling in a manner that caused 15 people to be exposed to and infected with the virus."
Israel, which at the time was in the midst of its the outbreak, implemented a full curfew on the first night of Passover and severe restrictions for the rest of the eight-day holiday, in order to prevent such gatherings of extended families and facilitate the spread of the disease.
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The building in Netivot where one of the families met during Passover
(Photo: Roee Idan)
One of the people who attended one of the gatherings said his family is large and used to living together, which led them to dismiss the dangers presented by the virus.
"We are an ultra-Orthodox family and less involved in what they say in the media. We also live next to each other and spend every day together," he said.
"If we had known how dangerous it was and that the rate of infection was so fast, we wouldn't have had Passover together," he said.
"If they told me there was a suspicion of the coronavirus, we wouldn't have met during the holiday."
The infected family members, who are now quarantined in Ashkelon, said they did not receive sufficient information regarding the virus.
According to the Health Ministry plan, the areas that will be quarantined are the municipal area of Netivot ,the Nachala and Menucha neighborhoods in Beit Shemesh, along with Kiryat Beit Shemesh B.
In addition, the municipalities of Deir el-Asad and Ban'a will remain "restricted areas" for an additional five days - meaning the restrictions on these cities will be lifted on Thursday at 8 am.
A report released this week by the Corona National Information and Knowledge Center said that Netivot is the sixth most concerning community in Israel for infections, after Bnei Brak, Elad, Beit Shemesh, Jerusalem, Modi'in Illit and Beitar Illit.
The final decision to close down Netivot will be made by the government, but the Ministry of Health is expected to support such a decision. It will effectively define Netivot as a "restricted area", similar to certain neighborhoods in Jerusalem, Bnei Brak and Deir el-Asad.
If the decision to shut down Netivot is indeed taken, all traffic going in and out of the city will be severely restricted.