Coronavirus: Netanyahu orders containment of main source of infection in Israel

The city of Bnei Brak, predominantly populated by ultra-Orthodox Jews, is the main focus of the Covid-19 epidemic in Israel. JACK GUEZ / AFP

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In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the containment of the city where the contamination rate is highest: Bnei Brak, a suburb of Tel Aviv predominantly populated by ultra-Orthodox, Jews scrupulously respecting religious rules.

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From our correspondent in Jerusalem, Guilhem Delteil

In Bnei Brak, the spread of the virus is rapid. In the night of Tuesday to Wednesday alone, the number of cases detected increased by more than 25%, and even if it shares borders with the rest of the metropolitan area of ​​Tel Aviv, the city can be entirely confined.

" We have enough manpower in the intervention force or in reserve, " says Micky Rosenfeld, the spokesman for the Israeli police. “ Our police officers will be mobile and will surround all the affected areas 24 hours a day. We will not let anyone in, we will not let anyone out . ”

Ill-informed ultra-Orthodox communities

Six hundred soldiers are also being mobilized to assist the police in enforcing containment measures in the country. But the answer cannot be only secure. " They have no radio, no television: they don't know what's going on in the outside world, " says Micky Rosenfeld of the ultra-Orthodox community. “ In reality, they are two weeks behind in the fight against the virus. They haven't reacted yet. This is why it is absolutely essential that community leaders make every effort: it is part of the solution . ”

The intervention of the rabbis is all the more important as the Jewish Passover will begin next week and it is a period during which, normally, families gather.

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  • Israel
  • Coronavirus
  • Containment
  • Health and Medicine

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