The Knesset officials have postponed all debates after Joint List MK Sami Abu Shehadeh tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday night.
Shehadeh entered self-isolation on Monday after his personal driver tested positive for COVID-19. His party members from the Balad faction, which makes up the political alliance of predominantly Arab parties, have also all entered quarantine.
MKs were informed that all Knesset debates and meetings planned for Thursday have been postponed and all parliament employees should not come to work unless it is absolutely necessary.
Knesset Officer Yosef Griff also sent a message to all MKs, asking anyone who has been in the proximity of the infected driver to enter quarantine in line with the Health Ministry guidelines.
Knesset and Health Ministry officials are set to meet later on Thursday to decide on how to proceed from this point on.
Shehadeh also asked anyone who has been in close proximity to him recently to go into immediate isolation on his Twitter page.
"I ask everyone to follow the instructions of the Health Ministry and that everyone internalizes that the campaign is not over yet," Shehadeh wrote. "The virus still exists between us and the return to normal is helping the virus spread in a large and fast way."
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Shehadeh, along with other Balad MKs, visiting the family home of Iyad Hallak
(Photo: Screenshot )
The 44-year-old MK recently was documented attending a number of mass events without maintaining social distancing rules or wearing a protective face mask.
On Monday, Shehadeh, along with several other Balad MKs, visited the East Jerusalem home of the family of Iyad Hallak, an autistic who was shot dead by police on Saturday after he was suspected of brandishing a weapon.
In a picture posted on his Facebook page, Shehadeh, along with Balad MKs Heba Yazbak and Mtanes Shehadeh, are seen at the home without protective face masks, in violation of public health directives.
He also attended a mass protest in Yaffa against the killing of the autistic Palestinian, where he was pictured demonstrating without a face mask.
Over the weekend, he attended a rally in memory of nine activists killed in clashes with IDF troops aboard the "Mavi Marmara" Gaza flotilla in 2010.