Israel may soon declare a state of emergency that would result in an almost-total nationwide lockdown, after a new record level of daily cases of the coronavirus were reported Wednesday.
The move to tighten the lockdown, which has been in place since Friday, comes as government officials deliberated over the necessary steps to counter the pandemic while guaranteeing freedom of assembly and minimizing the damage to the economy.
During the meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked his coalition partners in the Blue and White party, saying they were interested in "petty politics" by refusing to sign off on a total ban on gatherings because they wanted to ensure protests against Netanyahu could continue.
"I fully support the right to protest, but I am fighting for the lives of Israelis, for the public's health. We are at war, wake up," he attacked. Netanyahu apparently asked the ministers to approve an immediate lockdown of almost all sectors of the economy as a "circuit breaker" to reduce community spread of COVID-19 and then to reassess on Monday on whether to revert to the more moderate lockdown, currently in place.
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The Health Ministry reported 6,861 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday as a raging outbreak showed no signs of slowing. Israel, a country of some 9 million people, now has one of the world's highest rates of coronavirus on a per capita basis, and health officials say hospitals are quickly approaching capacity.
The government last week imposed a nationwide lockdown that closed schools, shopping malls, hotels and restaurants.
Ahead of the meeting, Netanyahu said that in light of the rapid spread of the virus, he would seek "a broad general closure and significant tightening of restrictions immediately," including the closure of large parts of the economy, his office said.
Israel won international praise for its handling of the outbreak last spring, moving quickly to seal its borders and impose a lockdown that appeared to contain the virus. But the government reopened the economy too quickly, and a new outbreak has quickly spread throughout the summer. The economy, meanwhile, has not recovered from a serious downturn caused by the first lockdown, and the new lockdown has led to a new wave of layoffs.
The Health Ministry has instructed hospitals to delay non-essential surgeries and to open additional coronavirus wards as the number of serious cases continues to rise.
Beyond further limiting economic activity, officials have been discussing shuttering synagogues and clamping down on protests – both of which risk sparking a public backlash.
The ongoing protests have bitterly divided the country, with religious leaders saying their public is being unfairly targeted by restrictions on public prayer while Netanyahu's opponents continue to hold large public demonstrations. Demonstrators say Netanyahu's supporters are using the outbreak as an excuse to muzzle their democratic right to protest.
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