As week two of lockdown draws to a close, Israel’s Health Ministry reported record breaking statistics; 9,013 new cases of coronavirus have been identified after some 70,000 tests were undertaken since Wednesday evening.
There have been 1,622 Covid-19 related deaths recorded in Israel since the start of the pandemic. Currently, Israel has over 68,100 active cases with 807 patients in a serious condition. Since the start of the pandemic Israel has seen 255,771 cases of Covid-19 with 183,488 citizens fully recovered.
Prime Minister Netanyahu warned officials on Wednesday to prepare for 5,000 seriously ill patients by the end of next week. In response, Health Ministry Director, Professor Hezi Levy, has instructed hospitals across Israel to prepare an additional 1,500 beds for patients which will be open for use within the next 14 days.
With cases still rising and hospital overcrowding becoming a potentially fatal issue, Coronavirus Czar Ronni Gamzu has urged ministers to dramatically increase fines for violators of lockdown restrictions.
Current restrictions prevent Israelis from travelling further than 1 kilometre from their homes, having any indoor gatherings and the shuttering of all educational institutions and businesses excluding pharmacies and supermarkets. Due to the festival of Sukkot which begins on Friday night and lasts for 8 days, the government have added an additional restriction preventing Israelis visiting each other’s Sukkahs (traditional outdoor booths).
On Wednesday, ministers approved new emergency lockdown regulations barring Israelis travelling more than 1 kilometre from their homes to attend a protest and limiting outdoor gatherings to a maximum of 20 people.
The lockdown, which was set to remain in force until 11th October, has now been extended until 14th October at the earliest.
