According to a recent declaration from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Jews are again leading the way, this time in becoming the first country in the world to impose a second national lockdown due to coronavirus.
During a late night TV news conference, Benjamin Netanyahu said that his government is responding to a soaring infection and death rate and the second lockdown is scheduled to last for (at least) 3 weeks.
The nation wide restriction will come into effect this week on Friday at 2pm, and it coincides with a very important Jewish holiday, Rosh Hashana respectively. Mr. Netanyahu has said:
“I know these steps are a heavy price for us all. These are not the holidays we are used to. We certainly won’t be able to celebrate with our extended families.”
After facing criticism in regard to his government’s latest decision, Mr. Netanyahu retorted:
“If we keep the rules, and I am confident in this, we will defeat the virus. I see the vaccine on the way, and I see the fast testing that is on the way.”
As per official figures, Israel currently has 37,482 active cases of coronavirus, but there are not very many deaths. Since the beginning of the “pandemic” 6 months ago, Israel saw 156.823 reported cases of covid-19 with 1126 deaths attributed to coronavirus, which translates into a death rate of ~0.1 percent.
It is very probable that other countries will walk into Israel’s foot steps and proceed with another lockdown, though it’s not clear if shutting down the economy and people’s social lives has any impact on this mild flu like virus.