Israel's police appeared to be working overtime apprehending those violating COVID restrictions over the holiday of Sukkot, when majority of Israelis are on vacation from and school.
Israel in recent months has come to grips with a resurgence of COVID-19 cases driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant, prompting the Israeli government to introduce new pandemic measures meant to curb the pathogen’s spread during the High Holidays.
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Police officers enforcing coronavirus restrictions at a local business
(Photo: Shaul Golan)
On Tuesday, officers conducted check at restaurants in the city of Bat Yam to ensure that all staff members are complying with health regulations, including the indoors mask mandate and asking customers to produce their Green Passes at the entrance.
At one of the restaurants, the officers noticed that there was no one at the entrance to verify all customers are in possession of a Green Pass, while most employees failed to abide by the indoors mask mandate.
When the shift supervisor was asked to identify herself, the officers discovered she was actually supposed to be in self-isolation due to exposure to a confirmed COVID carrier.
According to the supervisor, she left her compulsory isolation after she underwent a COVID test that came back negative, though she lacked proof of the test. The supervisor was then sent home with a hefty fine for flouting the restrictions.
In another incident in the city of Holon, officers caught an entire family of confirmed COVID patients traveling in their car, going through one of the police road checkpoints.
According to the arresting officer, the entire family was supposed to be at home in isolation due to being confirmed as COVID patients.
The father for his part claimed that he had recovered from COVID, although he had no means to verify his claim.
He was summoned for questioning for flouting mandatory isolation.