Health Minister Yaakov Litzman said Monday that residents of ultra-Orthodox cities and communities in the country are being treated in a “discriminatory and degrading” manner in the wake of the coronavirus epidemic.
Litzman was last week diagnosed with COVID-19 and has been in self-isolation ever since. Sources said he contracted the virus after failing to adhere to the guidelines issued by his own ministry.
The remarks came after the municipality of Ramat Gan put up barricades along its border with the ultra-Orthodox Bnei Brak, which has recorded a sharp rise in COVID-19 infections in the last few days. "I urge the mayor of Ramat Gan to avoid meddling and creating friction between the populations [of the two neighboring cities]," Litzman said.