The Ministerial Committee for the Coronavirus will convene on Monday to discuss the sharp increase in the number of COVID-19 cases.
The ministers will consider more enforcement of Health Ministry directives with increased fines for people found violating social distancing regulations.
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MyHeritage lab prepared to test 10,000 blood samples for coronavirus
(Photo: Nadav Abas)
This comes after 145 patients have been confirmed to have contracted coronavirus in the past 24 hours with hospitalizations up to 209 and 40 patients described in a serious condition, of which 28 are on ventilators.
The ministers will also be asked to decide on increased funds for tracing and tracking, enlisting various government ministries and agencies including the Shin Bet Security Agency.
The committee will discuss quicker and more effective means to quarantine city sections and communities where a spike in cases is detected as well as ways to include relevant ministries and services in the Health Ministry's decision-making bodies to ensure vulnerable populations are being considered and the appropriate services offered to them.
Train services are set to resume Monday, but the ministers will be discussing the merits of the decision. One option that will be weighed is positioning a train employee in each railway car to ensure health directives are observed.
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Minister of Transport Miri Regev on a test run of a new train line
(Photo: Ministry of Transport)
The IDF has thus far forbidden soldiers from using the trains to travel to and from the base while they consider suspending furloughs altogether because of the increase in coronavirus cases.
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee Chairman Zvi Hauser said his committee will meet to discuss the Shin Bet Security Agency's mobile tracking, claiming that if a civilian option is not presented by the end of the month, as promised by the Health Ministry, he will legislate leaving Shin Bet responsible.
"This is a time to save lives and the economy, and not to take chances," Hauser said.
The Health Ministry Director-General Hezi Levi said earlier that despite the spike in cases, he does not believe full closures are necessary.
"It is in our hands," he said, "We live with the virus and can be more careful in our behavior. No one wants to go back to closures," Levi said.
"There are 1700 new cases that have been confirmed since last Sunday with an average of 300 new cases each day," Levi said
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, threatened renewed lockdowns on Israeli cities if the public continues to disregard health order meant to combat the spread of coronavirus.