Health Ministry mulls closure of virus-plagued town near Jerusalem
One-quarter of residents of Kiryat Ye’arim (Telz-Stone) are in quarantine, with 8 confirmed cases; among ill are several members of 1 family and a woman who recently gave birth
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The Health Ministry is considering sealing off an ultra-Orthodox town near Jerusalem after eight locals were confirmed infected with COVID-19 and over 1,500 were quarantined.
Health Minister Yaakov Litzman announced Monday his ministry was mulling the lockdown on Kiryat Ye’arim (Telz-Stone), which would be a first for an Israeli community.
The ministry was awaiting the test results from five additional families in the Haredi locale of some 6,000 before making a final decision, according to the Kikar Hashabat website.
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri on Monday approved NIS 500,000 ($113,000) in aid to the Kiryat Ye’arim council.
Among those ill with the virus in the town were several members of a single family and a woman who recently gave birth. Kiryat Ye’arim is home to a post-natal recovery center and a person ill with the coronavirus paid a visit there earlier this month before their diagnosis, according to the ministry’s detailed itineraries of the infected.
“It’s important for me to stress, the spread happened because a visitor arrived from France and didn’t enter quarantine,” a community member, who declined to be identified, told Kikar Hashabat. “Therefore it’s important to spread the message: Those who fear they could be infected should immediately self-quarantine.”
Also Monday, the ministry said it was considering dramatically increasing its restrictions on movement for all Israelis in a bid to further slow the spread of the coronavirus.
“We may ask people to leave the house less, and only for necessary errands. The government is considering a general closure on all citizens, and if that happens it would mean all age groups will be asked to stay home until further notice,” the ministry’s deputy director general, Itamar Grotto, said.
Grotto also said the ministry was “planning greater oversight for the population over 70, which is at risk. We’re preparing now for hospitals to be able to hold the corona patients who will need treatment, and most of the less urgent patients will be in home hospitalization, unless they cannot be hospitalized at home for socioeconomic or family reasons.”
The comments came amid a new round of consultations by senior officials over increasingly drastic measures to limit contact and slow the virus’s spread.
“For the time being, a general shutdown of the economy isn’t planned,” an unnamed senior official told reporters on Monday. But, he added, “the government is preparing to cut back on public transportation.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened the latest meeting together with the ministers of finance, health, economy and transportation, the head of the National Security Council and senior officials from relevant ministries.
The Monday afternoon meeting was to examine further ways to limit human contact while also reducing the cost for the Israeli economy of the near-total shutdown of business and travel in the country.
Netanyahu is expected to deliver a public announcement about the conclusions of the meeting on Monday evening.
On Saturday, the government announced the latest wave of restrictions, saying all educational institutions would be shuttered and gatherings limited to no more than 10 people at any one time.
On Sunday, all “non-essential” businesses, including malls, restaurants and most stores, were shut down.
Over 50,000 Israelis are currently in quarantine and at least 255 are confirmed infected with the virus.
The Times of Israel Community.