Partial lockdown in three local coronavirus hotbeds

Sections of the Negev towns of Rahat and Arara and three Jaffa neighborhoods were declared “restricted coronavirus areas” due to their high rate of coronavirus infection. They will be isolated until June 28. Rahat is the biggest Bedouin town in the country and the second largest Negev city after Beersheba. It has seen a 15,3pc increase in covid-19 infection in the last three days, bringing the total to 198.

The countrywide rate of infection rose again on Friday by 166 to 4,201, along with a downturn in severe cases to 38 and patients on ventilators to 28. There were 303 deaths, a figure unchanged since Wednesday.

“We’re done with reopening the economy,” said PM Binyamin Netanyahu Thursday night following the surge in infection. “The pubic must adhere to the regulations or we’ll have to employ harsher measures,” he warned.