Despite convening for seven hours, a meeting of the so-called "coronavirus cabinet" ended without any concrete decisions on Sunday.
The cabinet concluded that schools should remain open, and that a proposed nationwide curfew would prove ineffective as it would be difficult to enforce.
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In addition, the body called to examine the possibility of imposing local evening curfews on "orange" and "red" cities, according to the country's traffic light method for determining public health restrictions for local authorities based on number of new coronavirus cases and percentage of positive test results. It also called for fines on violations of restrictions on mass gatherings to be increased to 30,000 shekels ($8,910).
However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did recommend a nationwide curfew on retail operations.
"The more we open [up], the [more the] morbidity rates will continue to rise," he said, according to a report in the Ynet news site.
While many of the ministers called to roll back restrictions on in-person schooling and commerce, Health Ministry officials and National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat warned against such a move, saying this would prove risky given the increase in infection. They emphasized the government had committed to a slower and more cautious from Israel's second lockdown after a rushed exit from the first lockdown was blamed for a spike in infections over the summer. Health Minister Yuli Edelstein that rushing to open up the economy would ultimately harm the market by leading the country into a third lockdown.
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri countered that a third lockdown was unavoidable. He argued that "in light of there being a timetable for a vaccine, we need to prepare for a third lockdown down the line, and to open up the education system and commerce. I don't see any chance in our current situation, if we don't bring back the restrictions, of us being under a 0.8 [% infection rate] and 500 [new] infections, which is the index we set."
Since the start of the outbreak, 324,293 Israelis have contracted the coronavirus. There are currently 7,918 active cases in the country, 314 of which are serious. Of those in serious condition, 133 are on ventilators. A total of 2,732 people have died.
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