At the start of Sunday’s weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the public against flouting guidelines set out by the Health Ministry, as the country witnesses a spike in coronavirus cases.
Netanyahu said that there has been “no improvement” in the number of daily new infections, which stands at about 200 per day. This is a “red flag,” he said.
As of Sunday, 26 people were on ventilators, 35 were in serious condition, and 300 people had died of COVID-19 since the beginning of the outbreak.
Israel has gradually opened up schools, businesses and event halls in recent weeks in an effort to restart the economy, but rising numbers in coronavirus cases could threaten to shut the country down again.
Netanyahu said last week that he was “pulling the emergency brake” on easing restrictions after seeing 100 new daily cases of coronavirus.
