Israel's efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak reached a significant milestone on Friday morning as police descended on the city of Bnei Brak, one of the main clusters of the epidemic, and sealed it off from the rest of the country.
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The move came hours after the cabinet approved emergency measures that allow the state to effectively put the city, which is one of the poorest and most dense in Israel, under quarantine in an attempt to contain its high infection rate.
The unprecedented step was taken due to unsuccessful efforts to make its residents comply with the nation-wide shelter-at-home ordinances that had been introduced earlier this month.
Dozens of roadblocks were set up on major arteries in the city environs, with at least 1,000 officers taking part in the operation, using drones and various technological means to prevent non-residents from entering the city.
Starting Sunday, the IDF will be put in charge of the quarantine on the haredi city, which was placed under strict lockdown on Friday morning, top officials decided Friday in a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Maj. Gen. (res.) Roni Numa will oversee the logistics of having the Israel Police – which operate under the Public Security Ministry, not the Defense Ministry – enforce health regulations under the command of the IDF Home Front Command.
City residents were told they would not be allowed to leave, except in the rarest of circumstances, and that food and medical supplies would be provided all through the Friday and Saturday, to make sure the residents – the overwhelming majority of whom – are ultra-Orthodox, could properly observe Shabbat
Israel had more than 6,800 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Friday morning, with at least 36 patients who had succumbed to the respiratory disease linked to the outbreak, COVID-19. Some 340 patients have recovered, but several dozen remain in serious condition.
According to the new directives for Bnei Brak residents living in restricted areas, a person can only leave, among other reasons, to receive vital medical care unavailable in the city; attend legal proceedings requiring his or her presence; a funeral of a first-degree relative; or to transfer a minor whose parents live separately. Conversely, the only people allowed to enter a restricted area are, among others, on-duty paramedics, police, IDF soldiers and other emergency service providers. Permanent residents of such areas are also permitted to enter, as are social workers and welfare officials; journalists with the proper government-issued credentials; electricity, water and sanitation workers; and people transferring a minor whose parents live separately.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu entered into self-isolation on Thursday after Health Minister Yakov Litzman tested positive for the virus. Litzman had been meeting with key with Israeli officials leading up to the diagnosis, forcing a whole slew of key aides to go into self-isolation, including the Health Ministry's director general.
