Israeli health minister urges quarantine on ultra-Orthodox city
Israel's Heath Ministry has urged Netanyahu to call for a lockdown in an ultra-Orthodox city overwhelmed by COVID-19.
Israel’s top health authority has urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to impose a lockdown on an ultra-Orthodox city overwhelmed by the fast-spreading novel coronavirus.
Bnei Brak, east of Tel Aviv, has the second-highest rate of infections in the country, trailing only the capital Jerusalem. Positive tests for the virus in Bnei Brak jumped by 27.8% overnight Tuesday, according to the latest figures from Israel's Health Ministry.
Of the Bnei Brak residents screened for the virus, 34% tested positive, compared to 10% in Jerusalem and 6% in Tel Aviv, according to government data.
"I proposed to the prime minister and interior minister to put Bnei Brak on lockdown," said Health Minister Yaakov Litzman. "The situation there is horrible. Every day we stall, we put lives at risk."
