Police set up unit to hunt down quarantine-breakers

A police spokesperson announces the creation of a special unit to help ensure those confined to 14-day home quarantines are not mixing with the rest of the population.

The special police unit will accompany Health Ministry inspectors who have been doing spot visits to make sure those in quarantine are not breaking the rules.

Some 80,000 Israelis are thought to be confined to quarantine, most of them after returning from destinations where there have been outbreaks of COVID-19.

People arrive to vote at a special polling station for voters quarantined due to possible exposure to the new coronavirus in Jerusalem, during the Knesset Elections, on March 2, 2020. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

The police also say they have opened nine probes into people suspected of breaking quarantine rules.

“The police will work with the state prosecution to bring to justice anyone who chooses to ignore the directions of the Health Ministry and causes, intentionally or not, the virus to spread and harm public health,” a police statement says.

The statement does not say if the number includes the Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball team, which broke a quarantine to play a game after having been in Spain.