Nationwide lockdown to be extended to Saturday night, curfew restrictions to begin early

The nationwide lockdown set to begin today will be extended beyond what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced yesterday, and restrictions for the Seder night curfew set to begin tomorrow will start two hours earlier than declared.

Netanyahu said last night that the “general lockdown” was set to start at 4 p.m. today and extend until 7 a.m. on Friday while a tighter restriction would come into force at 6 p.m. on Wednesday evening, the night of the Passover Seder, under which everybody “will stay at home.” This curfew will end at 7 a.m. on Thursday.

However, Hebrew media, citing a draft of the measures to be approved by ministers, says the lockdown will now only end on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. The reports also say restrictions on traffic will begin at Tuesday at 2 p.m., two hours earlier than cited by Netanyahu.

— Raoul Wootliff