The Health Ministry requested Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend the COVID-19 lockdown by another week, N12 reported on Monday evening.The lockdown, the third the country imposed, was recently extended by another ten days.
On Monday at midnight almost all flights out of Israel and to it will halt as the government decided to prevent the possibility of any novel coronavirus mutations reaching it from outside.
Netanyahu met Health Minister Yuli Edelstein, deputy Health Minister Yoav Kisch and other health officials to discuss the impact of the new novel coronavirus mutations on the situation across the country.The officials expressed concern that even after the current lockdown is lifted, the nation will face high numbers of COVID-19 patients at hospitals and a high-rate of infection. The discussions will resume on Tuesday.
Earlier on Monday Edelstein seemed to contradict Netanyahu when the prime minister called for “one last push” when the Health minister said that it’s wrong to promise that and that he “wasn’t taught how to lie.”