A four-day lockdown that kept Israelis confined to their hometowns expired at 6am Friday, as officials urged the country to not let up social distancing efforts in a bid to keep the deadly coronavirus from spreading.
In Bnei Brak, residents saw an even stricter lockdown on their town ease slightly, with residents allowed to travel outside the town for work and some other essential needs for the first time in a week.
From Tuesday evening to Friday morning, Israelis nationwide had been banned from moving between cities, amid fears that people traveling for the Passover holiday could lead to a fresh surge of virus cases just as it seemed numbers were beginning to level off. In Jerusalem, residents were too confined to one of seven delineated zones dividing the city.
Nationwide, 10,095 people have been confirmed to have the virus and 92 people have died, according to Health Ministry figures released Friday.
In recent days, officials have begun to discuss possibly rolling back some restrictions later this month if the rate of infection continued to slow.
A stricter curfew in place from Wednesday night forcing Israelis to remain within 100 meters of their homes was lifted Thursday morning.
Throughout the holiday Wednesday and Thursday, police had handed out hundreds of fines to people breaking restrictions on movement.
In a statement announcing the coming lifting of the lockdown and the government’s decision to ease Bnei Brak’s quarantine, the Health Ministry urged Israelis to continue maintaining social distancing regulations and not to become complacent.
“The danger of the coronavirus has not passed. We all saw what happened in other countries around the world,” Health Minister Yaakov Litzman said in the statement. “A gradual opening of the economy will only be possible if we all make sure to keep the rules, despite the hardships.”
The announcement said a decision regarding special measures for Jerusalem, where most infections have been in ultra-Orthodox parts of the city, would be forthcoming.
Under the rules remaining in effect Friday, Israelis may travel for work or other essential needs, such as shopping for food or medicine, but are generally barred from being more than 100 meters from their home. Gatherings of more than two people are forbidden. People are also supposed to wear face masks when out of the home, but enforcement on that measure is not set to go into effect until Sunday.
In Bnei Brak, residents will only be allowed to leave the city limits for work, medical treatments, transferring children between separated parents, funerals of immediate relatives and “other necessary matters approved ahead of time,” the Health Ministry said in a statement sent out early Friday.