Israel tightens restrictions as new covid wave peaks
The Ministry of Health reported 3,151 new coronavirus cases on Monday, of whom 217 were seriously ill in hospital and 48 in serious condition on ventilators. The tightening of restrictions is strongly advised by the ministry and the government’s health advisers ahead of the coronavirus cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
They include expanding the “Green Pass” obligation for all closed venues, applying tests to unvaccinated children, mandatory masks in the open air as well as indoors and quarantine for all arrivals from overseas. PM Naftali Bennett again ruled out new lockdowns. He argued that the damage to the economy would run to hundreds of millions of shekels and throw the budget – that was approved with difficulty by the ministers on Monday – out of kilter.