Israeli ministers participating in the coronavirus cabinet on Sunday said to have mulled restricting social gatherings to 19 people in light of the COVID-19 resurgence in the country, officials said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened the special cabinet meeting after the number of new daily diagnoses has exceeded the 600 mark for several days in a row.
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Health Minister Yuli Edelstein, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz
(Photo: GPO )
Although no final decision was made, another meeting on the issue was to take place on Monday.
The Health Ministry's officials also demanded to limit all public gatherings to less than 50 people, a request which many government ministers strongly opposed. The government gave a go-ahead to hold cultural events of up to 250 people less than two weeks ago.
Sources said the ministry also demanded for students at summer schools to study in groups. Every class would be divided into two groups and each group would spend a week at school and a week a home.
Finance Minister Israel Katz said the decision would leave many parents at home looking after their children, unable to go to work. Katz urged the government to open all summer schools as planned on July 1.
The finance minister also called to increase enforcement of health orders and said he is working to formulate a bill that would give local municipalities authority to shut down businessed that don't adhere to virus rules. He said the move would prevent wide-ranging sanctions from being imposed, which could hurt businesses that don't violate the orders.
In addition, Netanyahu ordered to reduce the epidemiologic investigation process time and shorten the waiting time for those wishing to get tested for COVID-19.
He also said the staffing at offices in the public sector could be downsized by 30%, with staff members going back to working from home.